KUALA LUMPUR (July 28): The proposed merger between Ekovest Bhd (KL:EKOVEST) and its sister company Knusford Bhd (KL:KNUSFOR) has fallen through after the third extended deadline for finalising the plan ended without any deal or a further extension.
“The company wishes to announce that the heads of the merger agreement has lapsed on July 27, 2025 [Sunday],” Ekovest and Knusford said briefly in separate filings to Bursa Malaysia on Monday.
No details were disclosed on why the RM450 million deal was not concluded within the stipulated timeline. The deadline extensions were intended to give both parties more time to evaluate and deliberate the terms of the definitive merger agreement.
The deal would have seen Knusford acquiring Ekovest Construction Sdn Bhd, a wholly owned unit of Ekovest, through the issuance of new Knusford shares at 60 sen apiece.
Ekovest previously said that the merger was aimed at consolidating its shareholder Tan Sri Lim Kang Hoo’s construction-related assets under Knusford, eliminating related party transactions, and achieving operational synergies.
Lim is a major shareholder of both Ekovest and Knusford, with a 28.01% stake in Ekovest and a 33.15% stake in Knusford.
He is also the executive chairman of Ekovest, while his son Lim Chen Herng is an executive director of Knusford.
Just last Friday, Ekovest had extended the deadline to acquire a 70% stake in Credence Resources Sdn Bhd (CRSB) for RM1.15 billion, by a month to Aug 29.
The plan to acquire a controlling stake in Credence Resources were announced on the same day as the proposed merger between Ekovest and Knusford.
Credence Resources owns 63.13% of Iskandar Waterfront Holdings Sdn Bhd (IWH), which in turn holds a 34.29% stake in Iskandar Waterfront City Bhd (KL:IWCITY). Credence Resources’s shareholders are Lim Kang Hoo (90%), Ekovest managing director Tan Sri Lim Keng Cheng (5%), and executive director Datuk Lim Hoe (5%).
Shares in Ekovest rose as much as four sen or 10% to close at a near one-year high of 44 sen on Monday, valuing the construction and highway operator company at RM1.3 billion. The counter was the second actively traded stock of the day after more than 73 million shares changed hands. It has risen over 20% year-to-date.
Knusford, on the other hand, settled up three sen or 5.08% at 62 sen, giving the company a market capitalisation of RM61.78 million.