KUALA LUMPUR, 6 October 2023 –UMW Equipment Division Sdn. Bhd. (“UEDSB”), an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of UMW Holdings Berhad (“UMW”), has today entered into a Share Sale and Purchase Agreement (“SSPA”) with Toyota Industries Corporation, Japan (“TICO”) which is anticipated to further deepen strategic collaboration between the parties with respect to the industrial equipment business of UMW Group. The strategic collaboration is expected to upgrade the relationship between TICO and UMW from a principal-distributor to co-owners of the industrial equipment business of UMW Group.

With the entry of TICO into the industrial equipment business of UMW Group, the parties are expected to strengthen and expand UMW Group’s industrial equipment business by leveraging TICO’s expertise to develop a One-Stop Centre capability for the Industrial Equipment and Logistics Automation businesses. UMW views this strategic collaboration as essential in supporting industries to gear towards Industry 4.0 and this is expected to drive the growth of the industrial equipment business going forward.

UMW’s business relationship with TICO started in 1967 when the distributorship for Toyota forklift was awarded for Malaysia and Singapore. Later, it was extended to include Vietnam and the Shanghai and Zhejiang regions in China.

To effect the strategic collaboration, a Special Purpose Vehicle company, UMW Toyota Material Handling Sdn. Bhd. (“UTMH”) has been incorporated and all the existing industrial equipment business of the UMW Group will be consolidated into UTMH. Under the SSPA, UEDSB agreed to dispose of 26% interest in UTMH to TICO at an agreed purchase consideration of RM260 million. Upon completion of the SSPA, UEDSB will have a majority shareholding of 74% while TICO will have a 26% interest in UTMH.

Dato’ Sri Ahmad Fuaad Kenali, President & Group Chief Executive Officer, UMW Holdings Berhad remarked, “We are pleased to have entered into this partnership with TICO, which will realise UMW’s aspiration to move up the value chain in the industrial equipment business from distributorship to more value driven One-Stop Centre services and Logistics Automation business with the full support of TICO as a shareholder of UTMH. With TICO’s stature as a leading manufacturer of material handling equipment globally as well as UMW’s strong presence in the region, we look forward to the enhanced opportunities that this partnership will bring especially through the introduction of new equipment, innovative solutions and improvement of value-added services to expand our customer base and strengthen market share in the territories that we operate in.”