IWC-IWH merger deal stirs strong market interest

KUALA LUMPUR (March 10): Iskandar Waterfront City Bhd (IWC) shares, which resumed trading yesterday following the announcement that it is merging with its parent Iskandar Waterfront Holdings Bhd (IWH), climbed as much as 10.4% before paring some of the gains to settle at RM1.76 — still up 12 sen or 7.32% compared with its last traded price last Friday.

IWC was the third-largest gainer on the local stock exchange yesterday, and the second-most actively traded stock, with some 85.57 million shares done. At RM1.76 a share, IWC has a market capitalisation of RM1.44 billion.

The trading volume of the counter was a significant jump from the average volume of 22.09 million shares recorded in the last 200 days.

“I believe that the buying interest is coming, while the selling pressure at below RM1.71 continues to abate,” Hong Leong Investment Bank Bhd retail research analyst Loui Low Ley Yee told The Edge Financial Daily in a telephone conversation yesterday.

“The buying and selling sentiment continues to be strong, especially now that more investors have become aware that IWC is not just a merger story with IWH, that there’s also the element of Bandar Malaysia,” Low said.

Yesterday, IWH director and executive vice chairman Tan Sri Lim Kang Hoo said part of the merger between IWH and IWC will include the 486 acres (197ha) of land in Bandar Malaysia, Kuala Lumpur.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on March 10, 2017.

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