EARLIER last month, Hong Seng Consolidated Bhd had obtained its shareholders’ approval to acquire 60% stake in Neogenix Laboratoire Sdn Bhd, a medical diagnostic and research laboratory, thus, diversifying its business to include supply of healthcare products and services and related business.
In its latest development, Hong Seng wholly-owned subsidiary HS Bio Supplies Sdn Bhd has today completed the acquisition of Neogenix according to terms and conditions stated in the share sale agreement made previously on Dec 31, 2020.
In consequence of the completion, Neogenix has become a 60% owned subsidiary of HS Bio.
A medical diagnostic and research laboratory, Neogenix provides more than 76 tests ranging from infectious diseases, oncology, precision medicine, generic tests and etc.
Neogenix also offers a wide range of customised life science services in the field of research and development such as DNA and RNA extraction, bioanalyser, tapestation and gene expression microarray services, Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) and bioinformatics analysis.
According to a filing with Bursa Malaysia, Hong Seng revealed that Neogenix recently obtained a letter of award from Malaysia’s Ministry of Health to be one of the private laboratories to provide real-time polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) COVID-19 sample testing.
“We are pleased that the acquisition of Neogenix has been completed in the first quarter of 2021 as promised when we first made the proposal back in December,” said Hong Seng executive chairman Datuk Teoh Hai Hin.
“The acquisition of Neogenix is a timely investment as the rising number of COVID-19 cases have resulted in the explosive demand for the company’s services.”
Besides widening the group’s capabilities to complement its healthcare business, this is also expected to contribute positively to the overall future earnings of the group as it has major plans to grow Neogenix, added Teoh.
Hong Seng is an investment holding company with businesses in gloves manufacturing, healthcare, financial services, as well as search and advertising.
The group aims to be an end-to-end integrated healthcare provider through HS Bio. – Jan 15, 2021
