KUALA LUMPUR, 2 July 2018 – UMW Corporation Sdn. Bhd. (UMWC), a wholly-owned subsidiary of UMW Holdings Berhad (UMWH), has today agreed to form a strategic partnership through a Joint Venture (JV) with Komatsu Ltd. of Japan (Komatsu) for its heavy equipment business. The proposed JV is premised on the long-standing business relationship between UMW and Komatsu since 1965.

Through the proposed JV, UMW and Komatsu expect to further strengthen and expand market penetration of Komatsu’s products in Malaysia, Brunei, Singapore, Myanmar and Papua New Guinea by capturing new growth areas and firming up existing presence with the introduction of new products and services to meet customers’ ever-changing demand.

UMWC and Komatsu have entered into a Transaction Agreement (TA) to establish a Joint Venture Company (JVC) for the Heavy Equipment business in UMW. Following the execution of the TA, UMW and Komatsu will subsequently enter into a Joint Venture Agreement (JVA) to govern the next phase of cooperation between the two parties as JV partners. UMWC and Komatsu will hold 74% and 26% respectively of the issued and paid up share capital of the JVC.

President & Group Chief Executive Officer of UMW Holdings Berhad, Badrul Feisal bin Abdul Rahim, said: “We are pleased with the opportunity to partner with Komatsu, the leading manufacturer of construction and mining equipment globally, as the proposed partnership will allow UMW to move up the value chain from a pure distributor to a JV partner. We look forward to the enhanced opportunities that this JV will bring to both organisations especially via the expansion of new equipment variants and improvement of value-added services to maintain customers’ loyalty and strengthen the market share in the territories that we operate.”