JES

JES - The counter has been widely featured over the past months on back of its new ventures. Recall, the investment story of JES took a new twist earlier this year, as the shipbuilder disclosed that it is seeking to pull out from its much hyped investment in Mineriver, a Xinjiang mining exploration firm which claimed to have over US$500b of magnesium resources. Instead, the group is now diversifying into the African forestry business, where the group announced it has entered into a framework agreement to acquire a 51% stake in SCIBOIS, which has a 75% stake in a timber extraction firm that holds a licence to harvest an area of 229,440 ha of forest in the Republic of Congo until May 2036, for up to US$65m. The value of the forest is estimated to be worth more than US$3b. The group however recently disclosed that it had run into more hurdles for its 51% stake in Scibois, where the group was granted a court order against vendor Yang Shushan for breach of a 12-month post-share sale moratorium relating to its proposed purchase of a 51% stake in SCIBOIS, which in turn owns an effective 75% stake in a Congo forestry concession. Apparently, 60m JES sale shares issued to Yang were transferred to a sub-depository agent account. This puts the completion of the SCIBOIS deal at risk.