20130103 1110 Malaysia Corporate Related News.

Fire at Notion VTec’s manufacturing plant
Notion VTec announced yesterday that a fire occurred at the rear building of its manufacturing plant in Klang, Selangor, which affected its wholly-owned subsidiaries, Kaiten Precision (M) SB (KPSB) and Notion Venture SB (NVSB). The company said a site examination revealed that a section of the factory premises was gutted by the fire. About 100 computer numeric control (CNC) machines were lost. “There is also substantial damage to goods belonging to KPSB and NVSB that needs to be ascertained. Nonetheless, these assets (CNC machines and goods) are adequately covered by insurance,” said the company. (Financial Daily) Please see accompanying report

Finally, WCE gets the nod
The West Coast Expressway, a project that has been on the drawing board for the last 17 years, will finally take off after the company undertaking the RM7.1bn highway signed a concession agreement (CA) with the government yesterday. In an announcement, West Coast Expressway SB (WCESB), a 80% subsidiary of Kumpulan Europlus (KEuro), yesterday disclosed that it had signed a CA with the government to build the 233km highway that will stretch from Banting in Selangor to Taiping in Perak. Road Builder (M) Holdings, a wholly-owned subsidiary of IJM Corp, holds the remaining 20% equity interest in WCESB. IJM also has a 22.7% interest in KEuro. (Financial Daily) Please see accompanying report

Eversendai to raise stake in Technics to at least 20%
Eversendai Corp is strengthening its position in Singapore-listed Technic Oil & Gas by making the latter an associate company and securing a board position. Eversendai’s head honcho and major shareholder, Datuk A.K. Nathan, said the target was to raise its stake to at least 20% in Technics, which, in turn, would enable the construction and structural steel fabricator to equity account the profits of its Singapore unit. The board seat, he reckoned, should come about by February. (StarBiz)

Maybank gets more time from Bapepam
Maybank has received further time extension from Bapepam, Indonesia’s banking authority, to fulfil the selldown requirement and complete the selldown exercise by 1 Jun 2013 of its Indonesian banking arm. In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, the country’s largest bank said it had received a letter dated 27 Dec granting the group more time to undertake the exercise. (StarBiz)


Capital Markets: Business trust framework launched. The Securities Commission (SC) has released the much-awaited business trust guidelines, a new avenue for stable cash generating companies looking to raise funds and a new asset class to woo investors, as part of the broader Capital Markets and Services (Amendment) Act 2012 (CMSA 2012) which came into force on Dec 28, 2012. (Source: TheEdgeDaily)

Oil & Gas: UOP, Petronas in natural gas processing tech tie-up. UOP LLC, a Honeywell company, will team up with Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) on natural gas processing technology, particularly to improvefuture floating liquefied natural gas (FLNG) and remove carbon dioxide offshore and onshore. A UOP spokesperson said the two companies signed a joint technology development agreement recently. (Source: Business Times)

Automotive: Automobiles Citroen appoints Naza as distributor. French carmaker Automobiles Citroen has appointed Naza Euro Motors, a subsidiary of the Naza Group, as the official distributor for the Citroen brand in Malaysia. In a statement yesterday, Naza Euro said the appointment was effective Tuesday. (Source: Business Times)

Steel: Indonesia's BAJA to export steel products to Malaysia. Indonesian steel manufacturer, PT Saranacentral Bajatama (BAJA), is planning to market its products in Malaysia, Myanmar and Thailand to take advantage of the low import tariffs established under the Asean Free Trade Agreement (Afta). BAJA president director Handaja Susanto said with the market expansion, he expected exports to account for about 20 per cent of the company's sales. (Source: Business Times)