GEORGE Kent (M) Bhd which is synonymous with water infrastructure, rail transportation and hospital construction industries is seeking new growth opportunities in the digital space.
This follows the inking of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Malaysia Digital Economy Corporation (MDEC) to collaborate and promote growth of the tech ecosystem in advancing Malaysia’s digital economy transformation. The MOU will expire after three years from Dec 1, 2021.
Towards this end, George Kent will set up an investment arm to provide the necessary funding and resources, including financial, expertise, mentorship and market access opportunities for local and regional tech companies.
This is aimed to facilitate tech start-ups and smaller companies with financial support and the necessary leadership and market access to commercialise their businesses and upsize.
MDEC’s support comes in the sourcing of deal flows for George Kent including facilitating the introduction of venture capital and investors to George Kent for co-investment opportunities. MDEC will also provide assistance in the form of valuation, mentoring and market access opportunities to the investee companies in the collaboration.
“George Kent is delighted to collaborate with MDEC who is entrusted by the Government to propel Malaysia’s digital economy forward.
“MDEC and George Kent share common goals to promote and facilitate digital transformation, talent nurturing and the development of the digital technology industry,” commented George Kent’s chairman Tan Sri Tan Kay Hock.
“Furthermore, this collaboration with MDEC is in line with our group’s strategic plan of investing in new growth areas for the group.”
George Kent’s investment arm will serve as an innovative platform for the group to gain access to new and emerging technologies as part of its investment objective to seek strategic benefits for the group in addition to long-term financial returns.
“The COVID-19 pandemic had resulted in the acceleration of digital technology transformation across industries,” opined Tan.
“Automation and advanced-manufacturing technologies had gained rapid momentum where businesses had transformed their operations in all aspects from production efficiency to product customisation.”
Established in 1996 as a lead agency under the Communications and Multimedia Ministry to implement the MSC Malaysia initiative, MDEC aims to accelerate Malaysia’s digital economy growth, enabling digitally-powered businesses, drive digital talent development and digital investment.
At the close of today’s mid-day trading, George Kent was down 0.5 sen or 0.77% to 64.5 sen with 67,700 shares traded, thus valuing the company at RM363 mil. – Dec 6, 2021
