PRESS
ARCHIVE
Gefung draws more Arab interest
Star Publications, 15 November 2007
PETALING JAYA: Marble producer Gefung Holdings Bhd is expected to deepen its ties with Arab investment groups which will open new markets in the Middle East for the company.
The stock was suspended on Bursa Malaysia at 2.30pm yesterday and will be re-quoted tomorrow. Gefung informed the media that it would hold a signing ceremony today for a joint-venture agreement with a foreign party. It did not disclose any details.
Gefung was formed following a reverse takeover of Jin Lin Wood Industries Bhd after it injected wholly-owned subsidiaries Syarikat Bukit Granite Sdn Bhd (SBG) and Shanghai Gefung Marble & Granite Co Ltd into Jin Lin.
Taiping-based SBG and China's Shanghai Gefung are processors and distributors of marble.
Following the reverse takeover, Gefung bought a company called Montana, which has extraction rights to a marble quarry in Turkey and exclusive rights to buy marble blocks from another quarry in the same country. Montana was purchased for US$4.5mil (RM15.5mil).
Analysts said they expected the joint-venture agreement to be signed to involve Gefung's substantial shareholder, Saudi Economic and Development Co (Sedco), which bought a 22% stake in the company in August.
Although Sedco sounds like a government-linked company, it is actually a large, privately owned group based in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
As Gefung now has secure sources of marble in Turkey, it is strategically located to supply marble to the numerous luxury projects in the Middle East, including Saudi Arabia. It was better positioned than before when its processing facilities were only in Malaysia and China, the analysts said.
Furthermore, Sedco, as a major shareholder and large property developer in Saudi Arabia, is expected to lend a hand to Gefung in its marketing efforts in the Middle East.
Sedco had acquired its 22% from Gefung chief executive Jeffrey Seo, who held a stake of 66% after the reverse takeover. Even after the sale of the stake to Sedco, Seo continues to be Gefung's single largest shareholder with a stake of 44%.
