KUALA LUMPUR: Bird's nest processor MYMBN Bhd, which will be listed on the ACE Market on July 25, is planning to acquire a Chinese company in a bid to expand its reach in China.
To date, MYMBN only process and export raw unclean edible bird's nests (RUCEBN), which caters to international markets and mostly to China which contributes 98.6 per cent to the company's revenue in 2022.
Executive director Lavernt Chen said Malaysia is the only country that can export RUCEBN, and the company has secured the General Administration of Chinese Customs of the People's Republic of China (GACC) licence to enable export to the country.
He also said the company is in the process of acquiring a company in People's Republic of China (PRC) to cater to the demand for raw clean edible bird's nest (RCEBN).
"We will have 80 per cent of share of the company and all dealings are expected to complete all of the dealings to acquire the company by the second half of the year.
"The company in PRC will strengthen our presence in the market and the fact that it already have the licences to do so, as the bird's nest industry is a highly regulated industry in China. This will facilitate us in reaching our goals," he added.
Chen mentioned that RCEBN produces higher margins that will eventually lead to higher selling prices.
He said the company is in the process of acquiring a new facility to add to the list of MYMBN's existing headquarters to accommodate the increasing demand.
He said the estimated annual processing capacity has increased from 18,432 kg to 23,040 that translates to 72.8 per cent of capacity utilisation rate.
"The capacity and operations expansion is essential to house MYMBN's international operations that comprises processing area, warehouse and office.
"Our expansion plan in terms of capacity also, is to house the operations of a new company for the sale of Halal ready-to-drink bird's nest products," he said during the media familiarisation trip to MYMBN processing facility in Malacca.
MYMBN is also planning to establish three bird's nest collection centres in Sabah and Sarawak to increase its capacity.
"East Malaysia has more than 450 swiflet houses with identification registrations and Malaysian Good Agricultural Practice (myGAP) certification from Department of Veterinary Services Malaysia (DVS)," he said.
On halal bird's nest ready to drink product, Chen said MYMBN would like to tap into the halal products, as part of the market expansion to meet the growing demand.
"We have already gotten halal certificates for all of our current products and it's only natural for us to dive into producing products that allow people to incorporate this healthy product as supplementary consumption," he said.