UWC earmarks RM230m for 620,696 sq ft Batu Kawan factory

UWC Bhd, the Penang precision-engineering and contract-manufacturing group, plans to raise about RM384 million from a 5% share placement and put RM230.13 million of it towards a new factory of about 620,696 sq ft on its land at PT 6172, Persiaran Cassia Selatan 6, Batu Kawan Industrial Park. On 8 October 2026, two days after announcing the placement, it moved the RM80.46 million it had set aside to repay bank borrowings into the expansion and working capital instead.

What changed

• 6 October plan: RM200.00 million for the expansion, RM100.09 million for working capital, RM80.46 million to repay borrowings and RM3.58 million for expenses
• 8 October revision: RM230.13 million for the expansion (RM30.13 million more), RM150.43 million for working capital (RM50.34 million more) and nothing for borrowings
• Where the extra expansion money goes: all of it to machinery and equipment, which rises from RM17.59 million (three CNC punch-laser machines, a smart warehouse system and process utilities) to RM47.72 million, including 13 CNC machines and a fibre-laser tube cutter. The building budget stays at RM182.41 million

The new factory

• Site: PT 6172, Persiaran Cassia Selatan 6, owned by UWC Industrial Sdn Bhd: 526,540 sq ft (12.09 acres) of land on a 60-year lease to October 2082, bought in November 2021, with a single-storey factory carried at RM42.03 million at 31 July 2025
• Building: a new factory and ancillary facilities of about 620,696 sq ft built-up, with piling, mechanical and electrical works, power supply, fire protection, lifts, roads and drainage. Construction is due to start in the fourth quarter of 2026
• Derived: RM182.41 million for 620,696 sq ft works out to about RM294 psf of built-up area, including the infrastructure works. The built-up area is 1.18 times the land area, so the building will rise over more than one floor

The placement

• Size: up to 55,190,955 new shares, 5% of the company, at an illustrative RM6.96 each, a 5.03% discount to the five-day average price of RM7.329
• Adviser: Maybank Investment Bank. UWC applied for the listing of the new shares on 7 October and says it has raised no other equity in the past 12 months

UWC's land in Batu Kawan

UWC's 2025 annual report lists four factories in Batu Kawan Industrial Park, about 1.08 million sq ft (24.7 acres) of land in all:

• PT 6172, Persiaran Cassia Selatan 6 (UWC Industrial): 526,540 sq ft, single-storey factory, lease to 2082, bought 2021
• PMT 745, Jalan Cassia Selatan 5/1 (UWC Industrial): 326,029 sq ft, double-storey office with a single-storey factory, lease to 2075, bought 2014
• PMT 744, Jalan Cassia Selatan 5/1 (UWC Holdings): 177,163 sq ft, single-storey factory, lease to 2075, bought 2014
• PMT 860, Persiaran Cassia Selatan 4 (UWC Technology): 46,102 sq ft, three-storey factory, lease to 2075, bought 2014