KUALA LUMPUR (April 30): Ikhmas Jaya Group Bhd is looking to undertake a private placement of up to 10% of its issued shares, as it intends to raise cash to meet its working capital requirements.

In a bourse filing, the company said the placement exercise will entail the issuance of up to 54.54 million new shares, which may be implemented in multiple tranches subject to prevailing market conditions.

At an indicative issue price of 18.7 sen per placement share, Ikhmas Jaya said it could potentially raise up to RM10.19 million, out of which about RM9.68 million will be used for general working capital requirements while the balance will be used to cover the expenses of the exercise.

The working capital requirements entail the paring down of its bank borrowings, settling payments owed to subcontractors and suppliers for existing projects as well as for preliminaries, mobilisation and setting up expenses for existing and future projects.

“The actual proceeds to be raised from the proposed private placement are dependent on the issue price of the placement shares and actual number of placement shares issued. Any excess or shortfall of the actual proceeds raised will be adjusted in the utilisation for the general working capital requirements of the group,” it said.

Ikhmas Jaya’s share price closed 0.5 sen or 2.5% higher at 20.5 sen giving it a market capitalisation of RM111.8 million.