GEORGE TOWN (April 16): Mi Technovation Bhd (KL:MI) has set aside US$25 million (RM98.8 million) for expansion while the company works on listing its semiconductor material business unit this year.

The company is investing about US$10 million for a plant in Johor to make solder balls or interconnects used in advanced semiconductor packaging, chief executive officer Oh Kuang Eng told The Edge. The 50,000-square-feet Senai plant will be operational in the first half of 2027, he noted.

“The plant will serve customers in the global market” and contribute about 8% to 12% to the projected revenue in 2027, Oh said.

The remaining US$15 million is for upgrading its operations in Malaysia, South Korea and China.

The materials unit, which operates under the name of Accurus Scientific, mainly sells solderballs. The business accounts for about half of Mi Technovation’s annual earnings.

Last month, Mi Technovation disclosed a plan to list the business in Singapore in a move welcomed by analysts and investors. The company has hired Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Ltd as the manager, global coordinator and bookrunner for the listing.

Oh said the listing on the Singapore Exchange could happen as soon as this year. “The proposed listing is at a preliminary stage, but we expect to get the listing done in 2026,” he said.

In the near term, the company is optimistic of better year-on-year results in the first two quarters of 2026 compared to the same period a year earlier, driven largely by the semiconductor equipment business unit, Oh added.