KUALA LUMPUR: The acquisition of a 21.54 per cent stake in Eco World International Bhd is a strategic fit to Paramount Corp Bhd's overseas expansion plan.
Paramount group chief executive officer (CEO) Jeffrey Chew said the acquisition offers the company exposure to the mature property market in the United Kingdom and Australia.
Chew said with the acquisition, the company aims to have 30 per cent of its income generated from overseas operations in the future.
"Now we have less than 10 per cent generated from outside Malaysia. We are a little bit behind. In fact, you see, a lot of developers have gone out.
"So it's a good time for us to go out now. We hope that this acquisition will help us to achieve that 30 per cent in the next five years," he told reporters at the media briefing on the acquisition here today.
He emphasises that Paramount is not expecting immediate dividend payments and is more focused on seeing the company grow.
"We will sit down (with Eco World International) and discuss how fast, what are the things that we can do together, if there is any.
"If not, what is the strategic plan going forward and also things like the board seats and all that. We will discuss a little bit more in detail," he said.
Paramount, through its subsidiary Flexsis Sdn Bhd, is buying the stake at 33 sen per share from GLL EWI (HK) Ltd for RM170.6 million.
The acquisition involved a total of 517 million shares directly from GLL EWI, which is owned by Tan Sri Quek Leng Chan.
Eco World International has development projects in London, Sydney and Melbourne through joint ventures and subsidiaries, with a remaining gross development value of RM8.6 billion as at Feb 29 this year.
Chew said the acquisition is expected to yield potential dividend payout of up to RM108.57 million in 2024 and 2025.