News in brief: Oct 23, 2020

MANFORCE GROUP BHD, a workforce solutions and services company, has introduced the Malaysians Development Uplift Programme which is aimed at empowering young Malaysians with the skills of learning, life and work.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, Manforce group managing director Datuk Paul Wong Boon Ming said the programme will be beneficial to accelerate Malaysian businesses in continuing to work efficiently as needed, which in turn, will rejuvenate the economy again.

“This is where Manforce Group steps in to bridge that gap between employers who are in need of people to execute the labour tasks, and individuals who are in need of jobs or to have (at least) the minimal levels of skill for that particular work,” he said.

The programme, which began in February with a planned investment of RM10 million, was targeted at those aged 18 to 30 who may be school-leavers, who are unable to continue their studies due to lack of financial backing, the unemployed or the bottom 40 income earners (B40 group) from rural areas with limited employment opportunities, he said.

The company will sponsor these individuals to participate in a six-month practical training course complete with allowance, accommodation, and a certificate for completion of the training. 

-- BERNAMA

RADIANT GLOBALTECH BHD, a retail technology solutions provider, said its shareholders have approved the acquisition of an 80 per cent stake in Grand-Flo Spritvest Sdn Bhd (GF Spritvest) for RM11.6 million cash at its extraordinary general meeting today.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, the company said the acquisition was expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2020, pending the fulfilment of terms of the share sale agreement (SSA).

Radiant Globaltech managing director Paul Yap Ban Foo said the acquisition of GF Spritvest would allow the group to expand its customer coverage to include non-retail customers such as fast-moving consumer goods, electronics and utilities industries in Malaysia.

He said the company had also approved the variation of the use of proceeds raised from its initial public offering (IPO) to partially finance the purchase consideration of RM11.6 million, whereby some RM11.5 million would be satisfied through the IPO proceeds and the remaining RM0.1 million via internally-generated cash or bank borrowings.

GF Spritvest has provided a cumulative net profit guarantee of RM3.2 million from the completion date of the SSA until the financial year ending Dec 31, 2022.

-- BERNAMA

PETRONAS, through its corporate social responsibility arm, Yayasan Petronas, is contributing RM2.5 million worth of medical equipment and personal protective equipment to hospitals across Sabah in support of the efforts of medical frontliners in managing the recent rise in the COVID-19 cases.

Yayasan Petronas chairman Tan Sri Ahmad Nizam Salleh said the foundation will be providing medical equipment which included powered air purifying respirators, high-flow nasal cannulas, four parameters vital sign monitors, and high-end physiologic monitors for the nursing care, emergency and trauma, intensive care, and paediatric intensive care wards.

“With Sabah recording alarming cases daily, it is becoming ever more important for us as a nation to stand together with our fellow Malaysians in the fight against the virus,” he said in a statement today.

He said the contribution will be channelled in stages to public hospitals in Kota Kinabalu, Keningau, Tawau, Sandakan, and Lahad Datu.

-- BERNAMA