A company owned by Vitrox Holdings Bhd and Pentamaster Corp Bhd is acquiring a piece of 5.05-acre land in the Batu Kawan Industrial Park in Penang for RM3.52 million.
Penang Automation Cluster Sdn Bhd is acquiring the land from state-owned Penang Development Corporation, Vitrox and Pentamaster said in filings with Bursa Malaysia.
They said the land will be used to develop and operate a small and medium automation industry cluster. This, they said, will support their long-term strategy to grow their business in providing a wider range of high-end automated inspection equipment.
Once approved by the Department of of Environment, Vitrox and Pentamaster expect the cluster to carry out activities that include precision engineering and sheet metal fabrication, tooling, machining, finishing and coating services.
“The automation cluster is expected to commence construction in the second half of 2017, and span over a development period of two years,” they said.
Preliminary estimates by Vitrox and Pentamaster reveal that they may need to fork out RM23 million to invest in the automation cluster.
“The automation cluster is still in the initial planning stage,” the two companies added.
Penang Automation Cluster is owned 35% each by Vitrox and Pentamaster, while a third shareholder, Walta Engineering Sdn Bhd, holds the other 30% stake.
Pentamaster shares closed at RM1.63 today, with 1.1 million shares changing hands, giving it a market capitalisation of RM238.9 million.
Vitrox also closed unchanged at RM3.88, with 15,100 shares traded, for a market capitalisation of RM910.86 million.
sourced from: TheEdgeMarkets