KUALA LUMPUR (Sept 14): Sasbadi Holdings Bhd plans to raise up to RM5.79 million via private placement to fund the maintenance and enhancement of the group’s digital learning business and English upskilling products.

In a bourse filing today, the group said a portion of the proceeds will be earmarked for its fully-integrated digital learning platform i-LEARN Ace, to capitalise on the increasing demand for such services during the Covid-19 pandemic.

“In light of [the] Covid-19 outbreak, students are increasingly adopting digital platforms to conduct their daily learning. As such, the continuous development of i-LEARN Ace is essential and the group is capitalising on this increased demand for online learning platforms to capture a higher market share,” it said.

Launched in 2015, i-LEARN Ace is a multi-featured platform created to provide a learning experience that is customisable, interactive, engaging and mobile for students, teachers and parents alike, according to the group.

The educational syllabus contained within i-LEARN Ace is produced by the group and is fully aligned with the curriculum requirements set by the Ministry of Education, it said.

The proposed private placement entails the issuance of up to 42.91 million placement shares, representing 10% of the group’s total number of issued shares at an issue price to be announced later. The expected proceeds to be raised is based on an indicative issue price of 13.5 sen per placement share.

Sasbadi plans to use the proceeds to recruit, train and maintain the support team for the Cambridge Assessment English (CAE)’s Linguaskill online English proficiency test and the New York City English (NYC English)’s product distribution in Malaysia.

The company had in August 2019 inked two separate agreements with CAE and NYC English as their respective preferred partner and exclusive independent distributor .

“The demand for the Linguaskill and NYC English programmes is improving, due to the fast changing and competitive nature of the current job market. As such, the group is increasing its marketing efforts of the Linguaskill and NYC English products to organisations such as universities, colleges, recruitment agencies or industries to promote them.

“The exact amount to be utilised for each segment cannot be ascertained at this juncture, as they are subject to changes in both the technological landscape and user trends and expectations. However, the group expects to continuously enhance and upgrade their digital products and services as more features will be added from time to time,” it added.

Sasbadi’s share price closed half a sen or 3.57% lower at 13.5 sen today, with 2.56 million units done. This gives the firm a market capitalisation of RM56.58 million.