(EWI) yesterday wouldn’t have come as a surprise to many.
After all, Paramount has encountered much success in its development right here in Malaysia, namely The Atrium, Sejati Lakeside, Berkeley Uptown and the most recent project, The Ashwood, to name a few.
Paramount took its latest leap by emerging as a major shareholder of EWI after paying RM170.6mil cash for the 21.54% stake.
Paramount said in a statement yesterday the acquisition was done through its wholly owned subsidiary, Flexsis Sdn Bhd, which acquired 517 million shares in EWI from GLL EWI (HK) Ltd at 33 sen a piece via a direct business transaction.
GLL is an indirectly held unit of tycoon Tan Sri Quek Leng Chan’s Guocoland Ltd. EWI’s shares closed at 36 sen, up half a sen yesterday.
EWI is known for its development projects in London, Sydney and Melbourne through joint ventures and subsidiaries. These projects had remaining gross development value of RM8.64bil as at end-February 2024.
Paramount’s acquisition of the stake in EWI will be completed on May 14. The transaction will be funded via a combination of bank borrowings and internally generated funds, its filings indicate.
Commenting on the acquisition, Paramount group chief executive officer Jeffrey Chew says the group had been on the lookout for opportunities to diversify its earnings base both within Malaysia and overseas.
“This acquisition presents a timely and strategic opportunity for Paramount to accelerate our expansion plan beyond Malaysia, in fact, beyond Asia.
“It enables Paramount to have a sizeable stake in a well-established Malaysian listed company that specialises in property development overseas,” he said.
“Currently, this opportunity outweighed all other opportunities available to Paramount for overseas expansion after taking into consideration the complexities of a direct investment in foreign property development projects,” the company said in a statement.
With development projects in London and Australia that are currently ongoing, this could mean more than one opportunity for Paramount to future-proof its overseas plans in the next decade.
As of now, the only time Paramount dipped its feet into waters abroad was when it went into an equity venture with a Thai boutique developer back in 2020.
Paramount invested RM24.6mil for the development of Na Reva Charoennakhon, a 29-storey condominium in Bangkok.
Unfortunately, that was also the year Covid-19 hit and things moved at a much slower pace, which probably made the group reconsider expansion plans completely.
Nevertheless, it’s safe to believe that the group never stopped looking for opportunities to add on another layer of profitability where it could.
In the statement released by Paramount, its group chief executive officer Jeffrey Chew said ever since Paramount divested from its education business, it had been on the lookout for participation in a new business interest to diversify its earnings.
And Paramount may just have found it through the acquisition.
If we look at EWI’s current projects across the UK and Australia, it has by far, billed RM8.64bil in sales as of Feb 29, 2024.
Some projects like London City Island have a gross development value (GDV) of 685 million pounds with a 75% ownership rate, Embassy Gardens has a GDV of £898mil and Aberfeldy Village has a GDV of £857mil.
And while the slump in the housing market in the United Kingdom has been on quite a spiral, the United Kingdom’s largest property portal, Rightmove PLC, is expecting improvements this year.
“While ongoing high mortgage rates and long completion times on transactions continue to weigh on the market, customers are ‘now increasingly looking to transact’,” a report noted.
Similarly, Chew said the demand for homes in London and its surrounding areas remain a source of opportunities now and in the longer term.”
Chew said he is hopeful the property market in London is on a recovery trajectory and that it will present more opportunities.
“Rental rates are high and have been escalating due to tight supply since 2021, post Covid.
“In recent months, mortgage approvals rate has been on the rise and a Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors survey expects house prices to increase over the next 12 months across the United Kingdom,” he said.
This means as these upcoming projects come into their compilation stages, Paramount gets a cut from the billed sales.
While its projects in Australia might be fewer, they are by no means less exclusive.
Its development in Yarra One houses some of the city’s most prestigious residential addresses with a GDV of AS241mil while its West Village project is A$319mil.
Both have reportedly got 100% ownership so far so the current housing market situation in Australia is unlikely to affect it.
While for now, the strategic expansion might revolve more around the projects, Paramount having a stake in EWI could help it become a stronger player in the international housing market.
Notably, Paramount’s participation as stakeholder in EWI is merely as a strategic partner at the moment, but there’s no telling if this will someday prompt Paramount to make a move in developing of its own.
On another note, EWI is debt-free, which clears Paramount of taking on any indirect debt as some other acquisitions have seen in the past.
Paramount saw its net profit increase 38% to RM82.8mil in the financial year ended Dec 31, 2023, from RM60.2mil in the preceding year, as revenue rose 19% to RM1.01bil in 2023 from RM847.5mil in 2022.
In a separate statement, EWI extended its welcome to Paramount as a new investor in the company. EWI chairman Cheah Tek Kuang says it will be business as usual for the group.
“Our group will continue to monetise our inventories with the aim of distributing the excess cash to shareholders as earlier announced,” he says.
EWI returned to the black, with a net profit of RM182,000 in the first quarter of financial year ended Jan 31 2024 (1Q24) from a net loss of RM30.8mil in 1Q23, while revenue rose to RM31.7mil from RM22.4mil.
As published: The Star Paramount emerges as major shareholder in EWI
THERE’S no doubt that property developer Paramount Corp Bhd has been gaining traction to becoming a well-established developer that has much in its portfolio to showcase.
So, in the grand scheme of expansion, the announcement of it acquiring a 21.54% stake in Eco World International Bhd (EWI) yesterday wouldn’t have come as a surprise to many.
After all, Paramount has encountered much success in its development right here in Malaysia, namely The Atrium, Sejati Lakeside, Berkeley Uptown and the most recent project, The Ashwood, to name a few.
Paramount took its latest leap by emerging as a major shareholder of EWI after paying RM170.6mil cash for the 21.54% stake.
Paramount said in a statement yesterday the acquisition was done through its wholly owned subsidiary, Flexsis Sdn Bhd, which acquired 517 million shares in EWI from GLL EWI (HK) Ltd at 33 sen a piece via a direct business transaction.
GLL is an indirectly held unit of tycoon Tan Sri Quek Leng Chan’s Guocoland Ltd. EWI’s shares closed at 36 sen, up half a sen yesterday.
EWI is known for its development projects in London, Sydney and Melbourne through joint ventures and subsidiaries. These projects had remaining gross development value of RM8.64bil as at end-February 2024.
Paramount’s acquisition of the stake in EWI will be completed on May 14. The transaction will be funded via a combination of bank borrowings and internally generated funds, its filings indicate.
Commenting on the acquisition, Paramount group chief executive officer Jeffrey Chew says the group had been on the lookout for opportunities to diversify its earnings base both within Malaysia and overseas.
“This acquisition presents a timely and strategic opportunity for Paramount to accelerate our expansion plan beyond Malaysia, in fact, beyond Asia.
“It enables Paramount to have a sizeable stake in a well-established Malaysian listed company that specialises in property development overseas,” he said.
“Currently, this opportunity outweighed all other opportunities available to Paramount for overseas expansion after taking into consideration the complexities of a direct investment in foreign property development projects,” the company said in a statement.
With development projects in London and Australia that are currently ongoing, this could mean more than one opportunity for Paramount to future-proof its overseas plans in the next decade.
As of now, the only time Paramount dipped its feet into waters abroad was when it went into an equity venture with a Thai boutique developer back in 2020.
Paramount invested RM24.6mil for the development of Na Reva Charoennakhon, a 29-storey condominium in Bangkok.
Unfortunately, that was also the year Covid-19 hit and things moved at a much slower pace, which probably made the group reconsider expansion plans completely.
Nevertheless, it’s safe to believe that the group never stopped looking for opportunities to add on another layer of profitability where it could.
In the statement released by Paramount, its group chief executive officer Jeffrey Chew said ever since Paramount divested from its education business, it had been on the lookout for participation in a new business interest to diversify its earnings.
And Paramount may just have found it through the acquisition.
If we look at EWI’s current projects across the UK and Australia, it has by far, billed RM8.64bil in sales as of Feb 29, 2024.
Some projects like London City Island have a gross development value (GDV) of 685 million pounds with a 75% ownership rate, Embassy Gardens has a GDV of £898mil and Aberfeldy Village has a GDV of £857mil.
And while the slump in the housing market in the United Kingdom has been on quite a spiral, the United Kingdom’s largest property portal, Rightmove PLC, is expecting improvements this year.
“While ongoing high mortgage rates and long completion times on transactions continue to weigh on the market, customers are ‘now increasingly looking to transact’,” a report noted.
Similarly, Chew said the demand for homes in London and its surrounding areas remain a source of opportunities now and in the longer term.”
Chew said he is hopeful the property market in London is on a recovery trajectory and that it will present more opportunities.
“Rental rates are high and have been escalating due to tight supply since 2021, post Covid.
“In recent months, mortgage approvals rate has been on the rise and a Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors survey expects house prices to increase over the next 12 months across the United Kingdom,” he said.
This means as these upcoming projects come into their compilation stages, Paramount gets a cut from the billed sales.
While its projects in Australia might be fewer, they are by no means less exclusive.
Its development in Yarra One houses some of the city’s most prestigious residential addresses with a GDV of AS241mil while its West Village project is A$319mil.
Both have reportedly got 100% ownership so far so the current housing market situation in Australia is unlikely to affect it.
While for now, the strategic expansion might revolve more around the projects, Paramount having a stake in EWI could help it become a stronger player in the international housing market.
Notably, Paramount’s participation as stakeholder in EWI is merely as a strategic partner at the moment, but there’s no telling if this will someday prompt Paramount to make a move in developing of its own.
On another note, EWI is debt-free, which clears Paramount of taking on any indirect debt as some other acquisitions have seen in the past.
Paramount saw its net profit increase 38% to RM82.8mil in the financial year ended Dec 31, 2023, from RM60.2mil in the preceding year, as revenue rose 19% to RM1.01bil in 2023 from RM847.5mil in 2022.
In a separate statement, EWI extended its welcome to Paramount as a new investor in the company. EWI chairman Cheah Tek Kuang says it will be business as usual for the group.
“Our group will continue to monetise our inventories with the aim of distributing the excess cash to shareholders as earlier announced,” he says.
EWI returned to the black, with a net profit of RM182,000 in the first quarter of financial year ended Jan 31 2024 (1Q24) from a net loss of RM30.8mil in 1Q23, while revenue rose to RM31.7mil from RM22.4mil.
As published: The Star
(EWI) yesterday wouldn’t have come as a surprise to many.
After all, Paramount has encountered much success in its development right here in Malaysia, namely The Atrium, Sejati Lakeside, Berkeley Uptown and the most recent project, The Ashwood, to name a few.
Paramount took its latest leap by emerging as a major shareholder of EWI after paying RM170.6mil cash for the 21.54% stake.
Paramount said in a statement yesterday the acquisition was done through its wholly owned subsidiary, Flexsis Sdn Bhd, which acquired 517 million shares in EWI from GLL EWI (HK) Ltd at 33 sen a piece via a direct business transaction.
GLL is an indirectly held unit of tycoon Tan Sri Quek Leng Chan’s Guocoland Ltd. EWI’s shares closed at 36 sen, up half a sen yesterday.
EWI is known for its development projects in London, Sydney and Melbourne through joint ventures and subsidiaries. These projects had remaining gross development value of RM8.64bil as at end-February 2024.
Paramount’s acquisition of the stake in EWI will be completed on May 14. The transaction will be funded via a combination of bank borrowings and internally generated funds, its filings indicate.
Commenting on the acquisition, Paramount group chief executive officer Jeffrey Chew says the group had been on the lookout for opportunities to diversify its earnings base both within Malaysia and overseas.
“This acquisition presents a timely and strategic opportunity for Paramount to accelerate our expansion plan beyond Malaysia, in fact, beyond Asia.
“It enables Paramount to have a sizeable stake in a well-established Malaysian listed company that specialises in property development overseas,” he said.
“Currently, this opportunity outweighed all other opportunities available to Paramount for overseas expansion after taking into consideration the complexities of a direct investment in foreign property development projects,” the company said in a statement.
With development projects in London and Australia that are currently ongoing, this could mean more than one opportunity for Paramount to future-proof its overseas plans in the next decade.
As of now, the only time Paramount dipped its feet into waters abroad was when it went into an equity venture with a Thai boutique developer back in 2020.
Paramount invested RM24.6mil for the development of Na Reva Charoennakhon, a 29-storey condominium in Bangkok.
Unfortunately, that was also the year Covid-19 hit and things moved at a much slower pace, which probably made the group reconsider expansion plans completely.
Nevertheless, it’s safe to believe that the group never stopped looking for opportunities to add on another layer of profitability where it could.
In the statement released by Paramount, its group chief executive officer Jeffrey Chew said ever since Paramount divested from its education business, it had been on the lookout for participation in a new business interest to diversify its earnings.
And Paramount may just have found it through the acquisition.
If we look at EWI’s current projects across the UK and Australia, it has by far, billed RM8.64bil in sales as of Feb 29, 2024.
Some projects like London City Island have a gross development value (GDV) of 685 million pounds with a 75% ownership rate, Embassy Gardens has a GDV of £898mil and Aberfeldy Village has a GDV of £857mil.
And while the slump in the housing market in the United Kingdom has been on quite a spiral, the United Kingdom’s largest property portal, Rightmove PLC, is expecting improvements this year.
“While ongoing high mortgage rates and long completion times on transactions continue to weigh on the market, customers are ‘now increasingly looking to transact’,” a report noted.
Similarly, Chew said the demand for homes in London and its surrounding areas remain a source of opportunities now and in the longer term.”
Chew said he is hopeful the property market in London is on a recovery trajectory and that it will present more opportunities.
“Rental rates are high and have been escalating due to tight supply since 2021, post Covid.
“In recent months, mortgage approvals rate has been on the rise and a Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors survey expects house prices to increase over the next 12 months across the United Kingdom,” he said.
This means as these upcoming projects come into their compilation stages, Paramount gets a cut from the billed sales.
While its projects in Australia might be fewer, they are by no means less exclusive.
Its development in Yarra One houses some of the city’s most prestigious residential addresses with a GDV of AS241mil while its West Village project is A$319mil.
Both have reportedly got 100% ownership so far so the current housing market situation in Australia is unlikely to affect it.
While for now, the strategic expansion might revolve more around the projects, Paramount having a stake in EWI could help it become a stronger player in the international housing market.
Notably, Paramount’s participation as stakeholder in EWI is merely as a strategic partner at the moment, but there’s no telling if this will someday prompt Paramount to make a move in developing of its own.
On another note, EWI is debt-free, which clears Paramount of taking on any indirect debt as some other acquisitions have seen in the past.
Paramount saw its net profit increase 38% to RM82.8mil in the financial year ended Dec 31, 2023, from RM60.2mil in the preceding year, as revenue rose 19% to RM1.01bil in 2023 from RM847.5mil in 2022.
In a separate statement, EWI extended its welcome to Paramount as a new investor in the company. EWI chairman Cheah Tek Kuang says it will be business as usual for the group.
“Our group will continue to monetise our inventories with the aim of distributing the excess cash to shareholders as earlier announced,” he says.
EWI returned to the black, with a net profit of RM182,000 in the first quarter of financial year ended Jan 31 2024 (1Q24) from a net loss of RM30.8mil in 1Q23, while revenue rose to RM31.7mil from RM22.4mil.
As published: The Star 
