Natural Cool makes foray into F&B industry with million-dollar acquisition

SINGAPORE (Feb 19): Natural Cool Holdings, the air-conditioning and switchgear specialist, is venturing into the food and beverage (F&B) industry by acquiring the business and assets of Yummy YM and SFB Global for $0.98 million.

Yummy and SFB Global are the manufacturers, distributors and retailers of cooked-food products and beverages & confections, respectively.

The former company is 70% owned by Leong Yew Meng, who is also the sole director and shareholder of SFB Global.

Through SFB Holdings, a newly-established subsidiary between Natural Cool and Leong, the group will acquire the business of, and certain assets from Leong, Yummy and SFB Global on a going concern basis.

Natural Cool has paid $80,000 for an 80% stake in SFB Holdings. The remaining 20% is held by Leong, who will serve among the key management of the company and assist in running the sale business.

The group will also provide SBF Holdings with a shareholders’ loan to finance the acquisition, as well as for SFB Holdings’ general working capital.

In a Tuesday filing, Natural Cool says its foray into the F&B industry represents a means to build a potentially new source of revenue for profits.

The group intends to fund the acquisition using internal resources.

For illustrative purposes, Natural Cool would have booked a wider FY17 loss after tax of $5.4 million compared to $5.3 million previously, had the acquisition taken place on Jan 1 2017. Its loss per share would have been 2.14 cents instead of 2.12 cents.

Shares in Natural Cool last traded flat at 6 cents on Jan 25.