SINGAPORE (April 22): When Malaysian engineering firm Serba Dinamik Holdings became the largest shareholder in systems integrator CSE Global last year, both parties talked about how they could work on projects together. One year on, no joint venture projects have been announced, as the companies are still trying to better understand each other’s capability.
“We do have some ideas on how to go forward, but we still need to work with our customers and see how we can, together, come up with some solutions or projects for their customers and ours,” says CSE’s group managing director Lim Boon Kheng in an interview with The Edge Singapore.
In April 2018, Serba paid eight CSE shareholders 45 cents per share, a 15% premium over the market price then, for a combined stake of 24.8%. Both companies, with their engineering focus, are seen as complementary in terms of market reach. CSE operates primarily in the Americas, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand, while Serba Dinamik is more active in Malaysia, Indonesia, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and the UK. The market had reacted positively to Serba Dinamik’s majority stake, with CSE’s shares increasing by 7% on April 15, 2018; it had been performing poorly since the oil and gas slump in 2014.
