PETALING JAYA: UEM Sunrise Bhd has revised its fund raising scheme after taking into account current weak market condition and its depressed share price.

The company yesterday has offered to issue up to 793 million new UEMS-RCPS (redeemable convertible preferred shares) to controlling shareholder UEM Group Bhd at RM1 each.

This will replace an earlier plan to issue new ordinary shares to UEM Group.

The issuance of preference shares, UEM Sunrise said, will not result in immediate share dilution for other minority shareholders in the company.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia yesterday, UEM Sunrise said that the proposed UEMS-RCPS was to replace the share subscription agreement of 524.4 million new shares in UEM Sunrise for RM1.47 a piece, which was terminated in April.

All the UEMS-RCPS would be subscribed by UEM Group for a total of RM793mil cash.

UEM Sunrise said the proposed UEM-RCPS would also preserve the company’s existing cashflow for reinvestment and operational purposes as well as enabled it to maintain its gearing level.

“It is comparatively and efficient and expeditious way of raising the required quantum of funds as apposed to other forms of fund raising such as rights issue exercise,” it said.

The proceeds from the proposed RCPS would be utilised to redeem for the 450 million Bandar Nusajaya Development Sdn Bhd (BND)-RCPS issued to UEM Group in 2005, which was treated as part settlement of the outstanding loan of RM800mil granted by Khazanah Nasional Bhd to UEM Group.

BND is a unit of UEM Land Bhd, which in turn a wholly-owned subsidiary of UEM Sunrise.

BND-RCPS matured on Nov 27 this year. The total redemption amount, assuming all the BND-RCPS is redeemed in end-October, is about RM922.8mil.

Shares in UEM Sunrise closed 1 sen lower to RM1.07 yesterday.