This article first appeared in Capital, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on October 27, 2025 - November 2, 2025

IN a listing that marks a departure from Sarawak’s traditional commodity and infrastructure roots, Insights Analytics Bhd is poised to debut on the ACE Market of Bursa Malaysia.

The Sarawak-based technology solutions provider aims to raise RM43.56 million through an initial public offering (IPO) of 121 million new shares at 36 sen apiece, translating into a price-earnings ratio (PER) of 10.4 times. The listing will also see an offer for sale of 27.5 million existing shares to bumiputera investors approved by the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry and selected investors via private placement, raising RM9.9 million for the selling shareholders Frank Wee Khiam Hui (managing director), Bong Joon Fook and Charlene Bong Myn Ee.

Scheduled for Oct 27, the listing will give Insights Analytics — which provides solutions for water management and intelligent asset management (IAM) for industries such as hospitality, transport and construction — a market capitalisation of RM198 million.

For Wee, the listing is a strategic step timed to coincide with Sarawak’s digital transformation. “This journey has been two years in the making. I do not feel the current [US-China] trade war or soft market should impede us. It is time for us to scale up, especially now with the state pushing for digitalisation under the post-Covid-19 development plan. Sarawak is growing fast. I believe this is the right time to go for a listing,” he tells The Edge in an interview.

A key question was how to classify Insights Analytics by industry, as its client base spans hospitality, transport and construction. Its major customers are water agencies and contractors in Sarawak, where the company is currently bidding for RM27.8 million worth of contracts.

“We are cross-disciplinary. Are we a tech or engineering company? I think sometimes the line can be blurred,” Wee notes. “We are an amalgamation of engineering and IT capabilities. They would probably need to come up with a new sector for us.”

He says Insights Analytics is strategically anchored in two of Sarawak’s significant economic drivers: water infrastructure modernisation and ambitious gas pipeline rollout. He adds that the company is well-positioned to capitalise on key state and federal government initiatives, including large-scale programmes to reduce non-revenue water and replace ageing pipelines with smart-connected systems.

At the core of its growth is its IAM business, which currently accounts for more than 60% of the company’s revenue. Wee says the IAM segment’s high margins of more than 70% are bolstered by recurring revenue.

“For IAM, we have a high client retention rate. Around 60% return to sign service-level agreements (SLAs) of three to five years. We have a repeat rate of 40% to 60%,” he adds.

The water segment is poised for rapid expansion, driven by the demand for smart solutions under Malaysia’s Water Sector Transformation 2040 and Sarawak’s own digital economy blueprint, says Wee.

The company is already looking beyond its home state. “We have two clients from Peninsular Malaysia at the moment. We plan to go on roadshows targeting small and medium enterprises next year,” he says.

Of the RM43.56 million in IPO proceeds, RM22.18 million will go towards working capital, RM9 million for acquisitions and RM7.47 million to expand its office with a mini data centre and establish a foothold in Peninsular Malaysia.

A key focus moving forward is Sarawak’s gas roadmap. “The state has a gas roadmap until 2035, which represents a huge opportunity for us. We have digitised 7,000km of water pipelines in Sarawak and we want to do the same with gas pipelines. We can look at and monitor the conditions of these [gas] pipelines so we can take proactive measures,” says Wee.

To support this expansion, the company is actively pursuing mergers and acquisitions (M&A), as well as technological partnerships. “We are in the midst of due diligence and are talking to a few companies, mostly overseas. We’re looking for proven technology.” 

Save by subscribing to us for your print and/or digital copy.

P/S: The Edge is also available on Apple's App Store and Android's Google Play.