On Sept 8, Starburst Holdings managing director and executive director Yap Tin Foo acquired 119,500 shares of the Catalist-listed company for a consideration of S$48,542, at S$0.406 per share.

 

This took Mr Yap' s total interest in Starburst Holdings from 33.79 per cent to 33.84 per cent.

 

Starburst Holdings designs, fabricates, installs and maintains anti-ricochet ballistic protection systems for firearm shooting ranges and tactical training mock-ups.

 

Mr Yap has about 30 years of experience in construction and project management.

 

Since he founded the Starburst business in 1999 together with the group' s chairman and executive director, Edward Lim Chin Wah, he has been instrumental in the development and growth of the group.

 

Lian Beng Group

 

Between Sept 3 and 4, Ong Sek Chong & Sons Pte Ltd acquired 125,200 shares of Lian Beng Group. The consideration for the acquisitions was S$46,950, at an average price of S$0.375 per share.

 

This took the total interest of Ong Sek Chong & Sons Pte Ltd in the homegrown construction group from 30.85 per cent to 30.87 per cent.

 

This total interest has gradually increased from 29.62 per cent on Aug 1, 2019. Lian Beng Group chairman and managing director, Ong Pang Aik, and Ong Lay Huan maintain deemed interests in Ong Sek Chong & Sons Pte Ltd.

 

As of Sept 4, Mr Ong Pang Aik maintained a 36.60 per cent total interest in Lian Beng Group, with Ms Ong Lay Huan maintaining a total interest of 34.08 per cent.

 

Two of Starburst Holding&rsquo s controlling shareholders, executive chairman Edward Lim Chin Wah and managing director Yap Tin Foo, have each sold 3.2 million shares at 39 cents each to a group of investors. 

 

The investors, which include ICH Capital and Eternal Glade Investment, bought from Lim and Yap at a discount of 7.9% off Starburst&rsquo s one-day volume-weighted average price of 42.34 cents.

 

ICH Capital is a consultancy firm with core activities in business advisory and direct investments while Eternal Glade is a discretionary fund focusing on equity investment in Asia (excluding Japan) managed by ICHAM.

 

Prior to the sale, Lim and Yap held 36.98% and 34.95% respectively of the shares.

Year to date, Starburst, which designs and builds shooting ranges, has won some $59.1 million in new contracts.

 

Lim says the sale marks the first step to diversify and institutionalise Starburst&rsquo s shareholder base. &ldquo It is also a strong testament to our ability to innovate and help our customers achieve mission readiness in one of the most unpredictable threat landscapes in modern history,&rdquo he added.

 

Edison Chen, founder of Eternal Glade and fund manager of ICHAM, describes Starburst as a &ldquo very promising&rdquo business with patented offerings and a niche value proposition. 

&ldquo Tensions in the current geopolitical landscape will likely bode well for the business while the growing value of its secured contracts marks an inflection point,&rdquo he said, adding that he is confident that given time, this could turn into a " multi-bagger investment" .

 

In a separate announcement on Aug 12, Starburst reported earnings of $2.1 million for 1HFY20 ended June 30, a turnaround from losses of $2.1 million incurred in the same period last year.

 

Revenue in the same period was $9.7 million, up 176.3% y-o-y, as it booked revenue from two projects, one in Southeast Asia and one in the Middle East.

 

The company, owing to the nature of its industry, typically does not name who its customers are.

 

Starburst is upbeat that it is riding on a positive momentum, due to higher defense spending and the threat of terrorism and extremism.

 

&ldquo We have further participated in tenders in both Southeast Asia and the Middle East in 2020 and we anticipate positive results from these bids,&rdquo said Yap, the managing director.

 

Starburst, the engineering group specialising in firearms-training facilities says it has been awarded a $13.1 million contract for upgrading a tactical training mock-up facility in Southeast Asia.

 

Dated June 30, and signed on July 6, the contract was signed by Starburst&rsquo s wholly-owned subsidiary, Starburst Engineering.

 

Under the agreement, Starburst Engineering will design, supply and install ballistic protection works for a tactical training mock-up facility in Southeast Asia.

Work will begin this month, and is scheduled to be completed by July 2021. According to Starburst, the contract will be carried out over FY20 and FY21 and is expected to a have a positive impact on the company&rsquo s net tangible assets (NTA) and earnings per share (EPS) for the financial year ended December 31.