Industronics Successfully Gets CIC and BlueMount Financial to finance Kedah Airport Project; Plans for Expansion of its Credit Leasing Business

KUALA LUMPUR, MALAYSIA - Media OutReach - 23 December 2022 - Bursa Malaysia Main Market listed company Industronics Berhad ("Industronics" or "Company" or "Group") has successfully been shortlisted for the Kedah Aerotropolis development project ("Kedah Airport project") together with its partners, Bluemount Financial Group Ltd ("Bluemount") and China Investment Corporation ("CIC").

Bluemount is a Hong Kong stockbroking, asset management and credit firm with a strategic relationship with Industronics. The Group's Executive Director, Datuk Chu Boon Tiong, acquired a 10% stake in Bluemount in October after the Group's proposed acquisition of Bluemount was delayed.

Bluemount will submit for its initial public offering ("IPO") in London by the end of this year, and the listing is expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2023.

The successful listing will help Bluemount to expand its services with the target market in Hong Kong, China, Europe and the Southeast Asia region. This will provide a huge opportunity for Bluemount to grow its business by having access to the population of approximately 1.4 billion in China, 746 million in Europe and 684 million in Southeast Asia.

Meanwhile, CIC is a sovereign wealth fund in China that was established in 2007 with a registered capital of US$200 billion. Since then, the Chinese sovereign wealth fund has grown by leaps and bounds.

Total asset under management ("AUM") reached US$1.35 trillion as at end-2021. CIC has a strong track record of annualised cumulative 10-year return reaching 8.73%. In the recently released report, CIC is expected to add investment into the Asia Pacific infrastructure and digital infrastructure, power, renewable energy, and public utilities sectors.

Industronics Berhad Executive Director Datuk Chu Boon Tiong, said, "This is an exciting opportunity for us to participate in this EUR3.3 billion project that is slated to be an iconic infrastructure in Kedah. This shortlisting recognises our strong track record and established partners with strong financial backing, which puts us in a good position to secure the proposed development of Aerotropolis in Kedah."

The partnership between Industronics and its Chinese partners will continue to gain momentum with the reopening of China, allowing for more business opportunities.

Aside from the collaboration on the Kedah Airport project, CIC has also agreed to support the expansion plans of Industronis' credit leasing arm, TTE Electronics Sdn Bhd ("TTE Electronics") by investing in its microfinancing business.

TTE Electronics owns a leasing license and is also involved in the micro financing and credit leasing business.

The Group plans to expand its presence in the credit leasing business via its wholly-owned subsidiary, TTE Electronics and will seek approval from the Securities Commission (SC) to raise funding of RM1 billion for its expansion into Southeast Asia.

The expansion will also see a strategic collaboration with TTE Electronics with Bikesome, a second-hand motorbike platform in Asia, for the credit leasing of motorbikes.

According to Datuk Chu, TTE Electronics's expansion is expected to gain momentum with the investment of its new partner, CCI.

"With CIC coming in to support our credit leasing business, this would enhance our brand and market position in the region as these investments could accelerate the advancement of our credit facilities and operations. It also allows us to expand into other competitive markets in Southeast Asia," Datuk Chu said.

He added that the Group's expansion into Southeast Asia is expected to pave a new growth driver for the Group.

"Bikesome aims to be the largest second-hand motorbike platform in Asia by taping on the reopening of the economy," Datuk Chu said.

He also pointed out that the credit leasing industry remains competitive in the region and that the rising inflation and higher interest rate are some of the near-term challenges to the industry.

"There are a lot of challenges in the credit leasing industry as well as the global economy in the near term. Southeast Asia is in a better position to grow following the lacklustre performance in the last two years due to COVID-19. With the reopening of the economy and the support and backing from our strategic partner, we are confident that the expansion of our credit leasing arm business and microfinancing into Southeast Asia will be a success," Datuk Chu said.

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About Industronics Berhad

Industronics Berhad is an established electronics company well known in Malaysia and internationally and the Group is engaged in the design, manufacturing and installation of electronics and microprocessor-controlled products, telecommunication system, audio video multimedia systems, intelligent transportation systems and information communication technology related system.

Industronics has three subsidiaries and associated companies which are Industronics AV/ITS/Communications Division, which specialises in the provision and system intergration of various systems including Audio Visual Systems, Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS), Conferencing Systems, Projectors and other Multimedia products, the Division also supplies and installs various digital communication equipment

Industronics Manufacturing Sdn Bhd, which provides full facilities and manpower to Electronic Manufacturing Services (EMS) covering design services, sub assembly services, final assembly services, testing services and packaging and delivery services;

and Ademco (M) Sdn Bhd, which provides products and system solutions for professionally designed security alarm and fire protection systems for industrial, commercial, government and residential complexes.