Friday 29 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 8): Berjaya Assets Bhd said it will be making an announcement on a potential venture with a foreign automaker within the next six months, to expand its automotive segment following the acquisition of Oriental Holdings Sdn Bhd (OASB).

"Berjaya Assets will make an announcement on what we plan to do with OASB. We have signed an NDA (non-disclosure agreement) with a major Asian brand, to represent them in Malaysia.

"While this brand is already present here, they are not happy with the current franchise holder. We are in talks and hopefully in six months we will make the announcement on this venture," said Berjaya Assets executive director Koh Huey Min at an investor briefing today.

She pointed out that a number of international car manufacturers are not well-represented in the Southeast Asian (SEA) region, mainly those that do not have a presence in Thailand's Rayong Automotive Hub.

Noting PSA Group — the holding company of Peugeot — as an example, she said it had attempted to expand its foothold in Southeast Asia through its bid for a stake in Proton Holdings Bhd, as it is not feasible to enter Rayong as it is too expensive currently.

"So this venture we are talking about with this major Asian manufacturer is a similar case. Like Peugeot, this brand does not have a foothold in Rayong and is looking to enter the SEA market," said Koh.

In June 2016, Berjaya Assets proposed to acquire the entire stake of OASB, which owns a car assembly plant at a 14.74-acre leasehold parcel in Johor Bahru, as well as a manufacturing licence, which is no longer issued amid excess capacity in the industry.

The group said the facility is currently underutilised, as it is only used to do some assembly works for Chinese commercial vehicles.

Berjaya Assets shares were unchanged at RM1.21 at 4pm, giving a market capitalisation of RM1.44 billion.

 

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