Singapore Corporate News - 11 Sep 2007

Darco Water, Qatar in master plan deal

DARCO Water Technologies will do a feasibility study and design a master plan for water recycling and treatment in Qatar's rural areas - which house about one-fifth of the population but cover over four-fifths of the land area.

This is provided for under a memorandum of understanding which Darco has signed with Qatar's Supreme Council for the Environment & Natural Reserves (SCENR).

By next year, the parties expect to form a joint venture to implement the master plan and start building the various infrastructure projects the plan will outline.

A key concept is to have Water Recovery Resource Centres in charge of collecting waste water from villages, treating the water, disposing of the solids and redistributing the treated water for reuse.

About 20 per cent of Qatar's population of 800,000 live outside the capital Doha, according to government estimates. The population has been growing at 9 per cent annually in recent years. Further, the Middle Eastern country plans to cater to 12 million incoming tourists a year by 2009 and 50 million by 2015.

Indonesian group set to take over Shining Corp

AN INDONESIAN group is poised to take over Sesdaq-listed building contractor and buildings materials supplier Shining Corporation and turn it into a property developer in Singapore, with a focus on high-end residential projects.

Shining Corporation said yesterday it has entered into an agreement for British Virgin Island-incorporated Citipoint Asia Real Estate Capital, which is owned by Indonesia's GoldenFlowerGroup, to invest up to about $42 million in the company for a 69.2 per cent stake.

Citipoint is a special purpose vehicle wholly owned by Indonesian Nico Po who, together with his Indonesian father Po Sun Kok, control the GoldenFlowerGroup, whose interests range from apparel manufacturing to financial services and real estate. In Singapore, the group's investment holdings include MacDonald House, an office building along Orchard Road, and 51 apartment units at Suite@Central, also in the Orchard Road area. A recent en-bloc acquisition of residential land at 55 Devonshire Road is set to launch the group into the development of high-end residential apartments.

Under the placement agreement announced by Shining yesterday, Citipoint will invest $21.75 million through the subscription of 167.3 million new shares in Shining at 13 cents apiece. A further injection of up to $20 million is expected through the issue of up to 155.65 million free warrants to Citipoint at an exercise price of 13 cents a share.

The 167.3 million placement shares will give Citipoint an equity stake of 53.7 per cent. If the warrants are fully exercised, the stake will go up to 69.2 per cent of the enlarged capital.

The deal is subject to certain conditions to be met by March 31, 2008. They include: a whitewash waiver to exempt Nico Po from a general offer; the approval of the Singapore Exchange; a requirement for Shining to maintain a net tangible asset of $12 million by Dec 31, 2007; and the approval by Shining shareholders.

Jaya Hldgs buys China shipyard

JAYA Holdings, which sells and charters offshore support vessels, is acquiring a China shipyard for 36 million yuan (S$7.2 million) cash.

Jaya said in a statement that it had signed an agreement with Nantong Hengsheng Shipyard Co and Wong Kwok Keung to buy the entire issued share capital of Nantong Dongjiang Shipyard Co Ltd.

Under the agreement, an advance payment of 20 per cent will be made into an escrow account, which will be released upon the completion of the equity transfer.

Jaya said the balance will be payable over various stages. The acquisition will be financed through Jaya's internal resources.

Inter-Roller wins $58m Qatar contract

INTER-ROLLER Engineering has won a $58 million contract to design, supply and install a baggage-handling system at the New Doha International Airport in Qatar.

This contract comes just a week after the company won its first baggage-handling order in North America - to build a $16.3 million system for the Winnipeg James Armstrong Richardson International Airport in Canada.

Inter-Roller's latest deal with the Qatari airport brings the value of its new orders this year to $126.7 million. The company expects the Doha project to be completed by September 2009 and to contribute to its turnover and profitability from year 2007 to 2009.

The contract was awarded by its consortium partner FKI Logistex. New Doha International Airport is expected to have a capacity of 24 million passengers per year, making it one of the largest airports in the Middle East.

Inter-Roller is the fourth-largest player in baggage-handling systems worldwide. It also designs and builds in-flight catering systems and air cargo and parcel handing systems. According to the company's annual report last year, China accounts for almost half of its revenue and the Middle East more than a quarter.

Inter-Roller said the Middle East will contribute an increasing proportion of turnover until it penetrates the US and European markets further. The Winnipeg deal could be a springboard for other North American projects.