GB Bond’s IPO money is going into a rented Bukit Panchor factory, 40,000 sq ft at about RM2 psf, RM3mil of rent pre-funded, and the building not yet chosen

GB Bond Holdings, the Nibong Tebal glue maker, lists on Bursa Malaysia’s ACE Market on 1 October 2026 at 25 sen a share, raising RM16.08 million for a market value of RM103 million. The headline use of the money is a RM5.5 million new factory in Bukit Panchor. Read the prospectus and the story for Penang’s mainland is more precise than that: GB Bond is not building or buying. It intends to rent about 40,000 sq ft of factory space near its headquarters at roughly RM2.00 per sq ft a month, fill it with RM2.5 million of new machinery, and it has not yet chosen the building.

What the RM5.5 million actually buys

From the prospectus dated 9 September 2026:

• RM3.00 million (18.66% of proceeds) for the rental and deposits of a "New Factory" of about 40,000 sq ft built-up, to be used within 36 months of listing. The company bases this on "existing rental rates of the surrounding area of approximately RM2.00 per sq ft", or about RM80,000 a month — which is 36 months of rent (RM2.88 million) plus roughly a month and a half of deposits
• RM1.00 million for four more mixing and blending machines for industrial adhesives, taking the group to 18 machines
• RM1.50 million for two additional sealant production lines — dispersing mixers, extruders, vacuum pumps and filling machines
• Why rent: the prospectus says renting "enables us to preserve capital and provide us with financial flexibility by avoiding substantial upfront expenditure and long-term debt commitments"
• Where: "located near our Bukit Panchor HQ". As at the prospectus date the group was still "identifying a few suitable locations around Bukit Panchor"
• When: the new factory is to be taken up "immediately after our Listing"; the separate Vietnam sales office is the item due within six months of listing

The expansion lifts annual capacity for industrial adhesives from 23,628.9 tonnes to 31,971.3 tonnes (+35.3%) and for sealants from 474 tonnes to 1,422 tonnes. The existing plants are described as fully occupied: adhesive utilisation ran at 83–94% from 2021 to 2024 before three new mixers in November 2024 brought it down to 65% in FY2025 and 72% in the first five months of 2026.

The property GB Bond already owns

The prospectus lists two freehold properties, both held by the operating company GB Chemical (M) Sdn Bhd:

• Bukit Panchor HQ — No. 1744, Jalan Industri 2, Kawasan Perindustrian Bukit Panchor, 14300 Nibong Tebal. Freehold, industrial category. 136,390 sq ft of land (3.13 acres) with 78,276 sq ft of buildings: a single-storey detached factory with two-storey office, a second detached factory with office, a warehouse, guard house and a TNB substation. Bought 29 January 2018. Charged to CIMB Islamic Bank; about 450 sq ft leased to Tenaga Nasional at a nominal RM10 until May 2028. Derived: a plot ratio of about 0.57
• Valdor Factory — No. 21 & 23, Lorong Seruling 2, Taman Perindustrian Valdor, Sungai Bakap, 14200 Sungai Jawi. Freehold, two adjoining single-storey semi-detached factories, 16,146 sq ft of land, 10,010 sq ft built-up, making emulsion polymers. Bought 4 December 2017; charged to EON Bank and Hong Leong. This is the plant that burned in May 2022, was rebuilt, and recommenced in December 2024

The group also rents a 3,409 sq ft shop-office in Shah Alam for RM3,000 a month (about 88 sen per sq ft) and a 2,310 sq ft shop-lot at No. 46, Jalan Perindustrian Nibong Tebal 1 as workers’ accommodation for RM4,000 a month from WST Properties Sdn Bhd, a related party.

A Bukit Panchor factory sold

Under material contracts, GB Chemical sold its old Bukit Panchor Factory — No. 1839, Jalan Industri 2, a three-storey office and single-storey factory — to UDA Materials Sdn Bhd for RM16.0 million cash. The sale and purchase agreement was dated 25 October 2022 and completed on 16 February 2023, booking a RM9.85 million gain, which puts the property’s carrying value at about RM6.15 million. The prospectus gives no land or floor area for it.

The company and the IPO

GB Chemical was incorporated in October 2000 and makes water-based industrial adhesives for paper and packaging, fabric lamination, woodworking and building materials, plus emulsion polymers (the raw material for its own glues) and, since June 2025, sealants. Industrial adhesives were 92.9% of FY2025 revenue of RM52.44 million; Vietnam already accounts for about 4% of sales.

• Structure: public issue of 64.3 million new shares (RM16.08 million to the company) plus an offer for sale of 42.88 million shares by managing director Datuk Gooi Ching Koay (about RM10.72 million to him). Enlarged capital 412.3 million shares; Datuk Gooi falls from 87.1% to 63.1%, executive director Lee Kim Wei holds 9.2%
• Timetable: applications 9–18 September, balloting 22 September, allotment 29 September, listing 1 October. Malacca Securities is adviser, sponsor, underwriter and placement agent
• Other uses of proceeds: RM3.5 million for a Vietnam sales office and marketing over 36 months; RM1.18 million working capital; RM0.9 million of testing and formulation equipment for the HQ laboratory; RM0.5 million marketing; RM4.5 million (28%) listing expenses
• Numbers: FY2025 profit after tax RM8.20 million (RM8.05 million adjusted for one-offs), gross margin 40.2%; first five months of 2026 revenue up 12% to RM24.35 million and profit up 18% to RM4.55 million at a 45.3% gross margin. Gearing 0.22 times, cash RM12.4 million. Derived: about 12.6 times FY2025 earnings at 25 sen, or roughly 9.4 times the annualised 2026 run-rate; post-IPO net assets of about RM52.9 million, or 12.8 sen a share, so a price-to-book of about 1.95 times
• Worth noting: the group paid RM11.37 million of dividends in FY2025, more than its profit, before coming to market — and the RM9.85 million factory-sale gain is what makes FY2023 look like the best year

*Cover photo: GB Bond Holdings, via DagangNews (company-supplied image, enlarged). Collage: GB Bond Holdings prospectus. Property, rental and proceeds details are from the prospectus dated 9 September 2026 filed with Bursa Malaysia.*