M'sian Cyber Village seeks S'pore listing

Chief executive officer Tony Pua however declined to elaborate further on the company's listing plans except that Singapore provided it an avenue to raise money for overseas expansion.

When asked why the company was not looking to list in Malaysia, Pua said Wednesday that the country's technology-related index, the Malaysian Exchange of Securities Dealing and Automated Quotations (Mesdaq), had restrictions on how a listed company should spend its funds.

"Mesdaq requirements indicate that a large portion of funds raised from a listing exercise be used internally ... whereas Cyber Village needs money for overseas expansion," he said after a signing ceremony between Cyber Village and IBM Malaysia for the latter's Accerelated Growth Program (AGP) initiative.

"We also don't qualify for the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange (KLSE) second board, as it only allows companies with a five-year profit track record to list," Pua said, adding that Cyber Village had only been in existence since four years ago and profitable only in its last fiscal year.

He said a local listing is also not feasible now with the possibility that Mesdaq may merge with the KLSE.

However, Pua stressed that Cyber Village has not turned its back on Malaysia, nor is it discounting the possibility of a dual listing in the future.

He said the AGP is expected to contribute 20 percent to 30 percent to his company's total revenue this year.

Last year, the 90-odd staff company registered RM6.5 million (US$1.71 million) of revenue. Pua declined to disclose his targeted revenue for this year, but expects the revenue to increase by a "significant percentage."

Big Blue venture
Meanwhile, the deal between IBM Malaysia and Cyber Village will enable the latter to tap into IBM's brand name, techical expertise and marketing activities.

IBM will also provide approximately RM95,000 (US$25,033) worth of technical training to Cyber Village on IBM's range of software such as D2B, WebSphere, and Lotus.

According to IBM Malaysia country manager for software Chew Chuan Chin, there are "a few" more local IT companies in the e-business consultancy space who are looking to participate in the AGP.

She said some of the criterias for evaluation include whether the company uses IBM solutions and how its business model can leverage on the solutions.

The AGP now has five partners spread across Malaysia, India and Singapore.