We refer to the announcements dated 2 July 2019, 21 August 2019, 28 August 2019, 29 August 2019, 25 September 2019, 3 February 2020, 18 February 2020, 19 February 2020, 23 July 2020, 25 August 2020 and 2 February 2021 in relation to the Proposals. Unless otherwise stated, the terms used herein shall have the same meaning as defined in the said announcements.

On behalf of the Board, RHB Investment Bank wishes to announce that the Company had on 26 February 2021, withdrawn the application to Bursa Securities in relation to the extension of time to complete the implementation of the Proposals, which was submitted on 2 February 2021 (“Withdrawal of EOT Application”).

The Withdrawal of EOT Application is after taking into consideration the following:

1. declining trend in the share price since end of 2019 (approval from Bursa Securities in relation to the Proposals was granted on 20 August 2019) till now have imposed challenges to the Company to secure potential investors at a price not deviating significantly from the historical range prior to that;
2. unfavourable prevailing market conditions especially from the unprecedented implementation of the movement control order (“MCO”) which first came into effect on 18 March 2020 and implemented in different phases by the Malaysian government following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in Malaysia has further adversely impacted the Malaysian economy and dampened consumers’ as well as investors’ sentiments;
3. the MCO/conditional MCO periods have also hindered the progress of the Company to secure potential independent third party investors. Prior to this unprecedented period, face to face direct meetings are the norm for a company to approach potential investors in order to demonstrate sincerity and to persuade investors on the merits of investing in the company. Further, all parties are primarily focused in adjusting to the new standard operating procedures for businesses and operating activities in order to be able to operate as usual during the MCO/conditional MCO periods. As such, there is hardly any interest shown by the investing community in the Company, in view that efforts tend to focus on minimizing any adverse impact to the financial performance of their various existing businesses and investments; and
4. as announced by the Company on 17 June 2020, the Company is not in compliance with the required public shareholding spread pursuant to Paragraph 8.02(1) of the Main Market Listing Requirements of Bursa Securities. Thus, the Company is unable to complete the implementation of the Proposals without further diluting the public shareholding spread. 

Premised on the above, the Board also wishes to inform that it has decided not to proceed with the Proposals.

Following the Withdrawal of EOT Application, the Proposals had been lapsed on 19 February 2021, being the last date granted by Bursa Securities to complete the implementation of the Proposals.

This announcement is dated 26 February 2021.