The financial brief.
Two companies. One asset. Four scenarios. Asset Co raises RM 5m (Ken RM 3m subscribes for 60%, External RM 2m for 40%) — bond-like Operator Fee yield. Marketing Co raises RM 5m cash (RM 3.8m new equity + RM 1.2m RPS) on top of RM 3m notional founder pre-money → RM 6.8m equity post-money — growth + IPO. Every number on this page traces back to the bottom-up financial model and the locked cap table.
post-money
Y5 LEAP exit · 13.4% IRR
at RM 200m IPO
(Base · LEAP-driven)
We didn't predict this. We watched it.
Over six years operating MetaHub, we noticed something strange. Every tournament, league, holiday camp and corporate day brought more than participants.
Parents came. Siblings came. Grandparents came.
Entire families arrived because of the programming. Yet almost every venue was built only for the player.
Disney proves the psychology. MetaHub proves the local demand. PlayTown is the productized solution. Every number in the Investment Thesis below is built on this observed gap — not a hypothesis.
Will it actually make money? Five questions.
The honest test of any pre-revenue thesis — every category-creating play has to answer these. PlayTown's answers are below, each with the proof point that backs it.
CAVEAT (pre-launch): Weekly cadence is a design target backed by combo-pass + membership structure, not yet field-observed. The Bear scenarios below model a -30% revenue stress (operator-side underperformance with intact demand). A pure cadence-failure — families visit monthly not weekly, halving expected frequency — would be a ~-50% revenue impact, materially worse than the current Bear. The Asset Co Operator Fee floor still gets paid in a cadence-failure scenario (~RM 9-10m cumulative Y6-Y12 floor revenue), but MarCo returns would compress further below the Bear shown. The single highest-value pre-launch action is converting "weekly cadence" from a design target into a number — via paid founding-member pre-sales or deposit-backed membership commitments.
Bear (no re-tenant): Asset Co 1.47× / 5.2% IRR / Y10 payback. MarCo 2.52× / 10.7% IRR / Y10. Combined 1.99× / 8.4% / Y10. Investor recovers principal + low-single-digit IRR on AC, mid-single on combined. This is the honest underwriting bear — derived bottom-up from the locked AC P&L (PT revenue × 0.70, Lowyat rent + overhead + capex + depreciation held constant, OpFee variable share recomputed year by year). Aggregate AC distributable falls to 72.7% of baseline.
Bear+ (Asset Co re-tenants the Sports zone + F&B Plaza to specialists): Asymmetric trade-off when the failure is operator-side, not demand-side. Asset Co rises to 1.70× / 7.2% IRR / Y9 (specialist royalties, +25% Y6+ uplift on bottom-up bear stream). MarCo falls to 2.14× / 8.6% IRR / Y11 (loses Sports + F&B income on already-stressed cash flows). Combined 1.92× / 8.0% / Y10. Asset Co holders prefer Bear+ (+0.23× MOIC); MarCo holders prefer Bear (+0.38× MOIC); combined slightly favours Bear (−0.07×) — but the option exists for AC investors who want a hedge against operator-side risk. Limitation: the option hedges operator risk, NOT demand risk. In a catchment-failure scenario, Asset Co's residual is approximately fixture liquidation value.
The Family Multiplier.
Traditional venues monetize the participant. PlayTown monetizes the Family Multiplier.
The campus keeps them there.
One asset. Two structurally separated cash flows.
Asset Co holds the tenancy + every fixture and earns a contractual Operator Fee. Marketing Co operates the venue, runs events, and licenses the brand to multi-site partners. The fee structure means Asset Co has yield-floor predictability; MarCo carries the growth optionality.
Asset Co Yield
- Holds Lowyat tenancy + every fixture, fit-out, play equipment
- Fixed-fee floor + variable-share Operator Fee from MarCo (RM 200k Y1 → RM 1,000k Y6+)
- 10-year SLN depreciation = RM 500k/yr Y1–Y10
- Renewal CAPEX Y5 / Y8 / Y10 (RM 300k / RM 500k / RM 250k)
- No RPS exposure · Annual overhead RM 60k
- Exit: Y5 LEAP consolidation buyout RM 6.59m (Base/Stretch) OR Y12 residual fixture value RM 1m (Bear/Bear+ 12-year hold)
- Note: the 12-year P&L above feeds the LEAP buyout NPV. Under Base/Stretch, AC investors are off the cap table after Y5 — the Y6–Y12 depreciation tail, Y8/Y10 renewal capex, and Y12 terminal accrue to the consolidated Asset + Operating Co, not to AC holders.
Marketing Co Growth
Equity post-money: Ken 66.2% · External 33.8%
- Operates the venue · pays Operator Fee to Asset Co
- External events business (Y2 ramp · 50%/yr to RM 2m · 40% EBITDA margin)
- Multi-site licence fees (Site 2 Y5 · Site 3 Y7 · 8% of gross revenue)
- RPS RM 1.2m held externally (8% coupon Y2–Y6, principal redemption Y6) — debt-like, off the equity cap table
- Terminal Y12: RM 25.5m baseline (10× Y12 EBITDA, no IPO) · bottom-up rebuild under bear lands at RM 8m (6× compression, no growth story, no multi-site EBITDA)
- Listable on Bursa Green Pathway: ACE Y4 → Main Market Y7–8
MarCo operates venue + events + multi-site → distributable cash + Y12 terminal or IPO exit → MarCo investors
From close to public listing — four stages of dilution.
Every external dollar that enters MarCo dilutes existing holders. The retail calculator in the previous section reflects the full stack — ESOP × ACE × IPO float = 47.25% retention. Founder retains majority through ACE; significant dilution comes only at IPO.
Round close
ESOP carve-out
ACE round
Main Market IPO
Bear scenarios apply 1.0× (no ESOP grants). Under structural underperformance, option grants are not valuable for talent recruitment, so no ESOP carve-out happens. Equity holders retain 100% of their original stake.
RPS holders are off the equity cap table — they receive RM 96k/yr coupon Y2–Y6 plus RM 1.2m principal redemption at end of Y6 (~1.4× MOIC / 8% IRR on the RPS leg).
What does RM 500,000 become?
Slide the ticket, pick a scenario. The calculator runs the full Y0–Y12 cash flow stream — operating distributions × your post-dilution stake + the exit event in the final year — and solves IRR by bisection on the actual cash flows. No geometric averaging. Every cell is audit-traceable.
IPO event breakdown
| Year | Asset Co | Marketing Co | Combined | Cumulative |
|---|
Asset Co under Bear / Bear+ = your stake × bottom-up 12-year distributable cash stream + RM 1m residual at Y12. Bisection IRR on the full cash flow.
Asset Co under Base / Stretch = stake × Y1–Y5 distributable cash + Y5 LEAP buyout (NPV of Y6–Y12 + terminal at 8% discount × 1.2 fair-value premium = RM 6.59m). AC investors exit at the LEAP consolidation event when MarCo absorbs AssetCo to become a vertically integrated Asset + Operating Co.
Marketing Co entry is at RM 6.8m equity post-money (RM 8m total balance-sheet capital less RM 1.2m RPS liability).
Bear scenarios (Premortem-grade honest rebuild) — Centre 1 underperforms ramp by 30% permanently AND no Centres 2–3 get built. Multi-site royalty stream is removed from the MarCo bear math (because no Centres 2–3 means no royalties — consistent with the Capital Roadmap conditionality banner above). Y12 MarCo terminal recomputed bottom-up at RM 8m (Y12 EBITDA × 6× compression for "no growth story") instead of half-discounting a multi-site-inflated baseline.
Asset Co Bear stream is derived bottom-up from the locked P&L — NOT a flat multiplier on baseline AC_YR. Method: recompute Operator Fee at PT_REV × 0.70 (variable share above RM 2.5m threshold drops, RM 1m floor preserved), hold Lowyat rent (escalating schedule), AC overhead RM 60k, depreciation RM 500k Y1–Y10, and renewal capex (Y5/Y8/Y10) all CONSTANT. Validated against the standalone model: baseline reproduces locked AC_YR to zero error. Bear aggregate AC distributable = RM 6,353k vs. baseline RM 8,742k = 72.7%. Year-by-year multipliers range 0.58 (Y8 capex year) to 0.77 (steady state). No ESOP dilution applies under Bear (options not valuable on struggling venture).
Bear (no re-tenant): MarCo stays sole operator across all four zones + food plaza.
Bear+ (re-tenant): Asset Co exercises its call option and brings in specialist operators for the Sports zone + F&B Food Plaza. Trade-off: Asset Co gains specialist royalties (+25% Y6+ uplift on bottom-up bear stream); MarCo additionally loses Sports + F&B revenue (×0.85 haircut). Critical limitation: Bear+ hedges operator-side failure only. If the failure is demand/catchment (PlayTown doesn't draw families in Rawang), specialists won't take a dead campus either — Asset Co's residual reduces to fixture liquidation value.
Base / Stretch apply the full dilution stack to MarCo (ESOP × ACE × IPO float = 47.25% retention) and exit at Y8 at the IPO market cap. Asset Co exits separately at Y5 LEAP consolidation (consideration mechanic open: cash buyout, share swap, or hybrid).
Combined sums both companies' cash flow streams and solves IRR on the portfolio.
From Pre-launch to Main Market.
PlayTown follows the Bursa Green Pathway — a recognised progression from private to ACE Market to Main Market. Each stage funds the next leg of expansion. Pre-launch round funds Centre 1 + Phase 1B; founder cash + Y1–Y3 retained ops fund Centres 2–3; ACE round (Y4–5) funds Centres 4–7; Main Market IPO (Y7–8) funds Centres 8–10 (Base) or Centres 8–12 (Stretch).
Pre-launch round In progress
Two-Co structure raises RM 10m total: Asset Co RM 5m (private placement, holds tenancy + fixtures) + Marketing Co RM 5m (RM 3.8m equity + RM 1.2m RPS). Founder cash commitment RM 4.5m of the RM 10m total.
Centre 1 opens — Rawang, 28 Feb 2027 Live operations
Phase 1A (187,000 sq ft): Indoor Kampung, Outdoor Twin Towers + Bunga Raya climbers, Splash Park, sports channels. Y1 modelled revenue RM 1.58m, ramps to RM 6.67m peak Y7.
Phase 1B build-out
Adds Treehouse anchor + expanded sports indoor + Phase 2A food plaza pre-build. Funded from retained operating cash flow + Phase 1B capital (RM 2m).
External events business + Centres 2–3 build-out Pre-listing
Events business hits ramp target. Centres 2–3 (KL · Penang) site selection finalised, fit-out begins — funded from founder cash + Y1–Y3 retained operating cash, not from a capital raise. By end-Y3, Centres 2–3 are ~60% built; ACE filing prep begins in parallel.
LEAP consolidation → ACE Market listing 25% new dilution Gate: Centres 2–3 operating + ramping
LEAP entry consolidates the two-company structure — MarCo absorbs AssetCo to become a vertically integrated Asset + Operating Co. Asset Co investors exit at this gate at fair-value consideration (NPV × 1.2 premium ≈ RM 6.59m → 1.79× / 13.4% IRR). Mechanic open: cash buyout, share swap, or hybrid — not locked at round-close. Step-up to ACE Market raises RM 15–25m to fund Centres 4–7 build-out. Centres 2–3 already opened Y4 from founder cash + Y1–Y3 cash recovery.
Centres 4–7 build-out · multi-site royalties compound Gate: ACE round funded + Centres 2–3 operating
Centre 4 (Johor Bahru) opens Y6. Centres 5–6 (Klang Valley South · Sabah) open Y7. Centre 7 (Sarawak) opens Y8 just before IPO transfer. MarCo's 8% multi-site licence fee compounds across each new site. By Y8, MarCo EBITDA tracks toward ~RM 30m run-rate ≈ ~RM 13m PAT after D&A across the asset-heavy 7-centre base (D&A ~RM 10–12m across 7 centres + interest + tax). RM 13m PAT × 15× P/E = RM 200m Base mcap. Stretch case requires RM 20m PAT (≈ RM 45m EBITDA) — achievable with delayed IPO to Y10 OR 9–10 mature centres by Y8.
Main Market IPO RM 200m base · RM 300m stretch · 30% float Gate: 7+ centres + RM 13m PAT × 15× P/E (base) or RM 20m PAT (stretch)
Marketing Co transfers from ACE to Main Market. Base RM 200m mcap × 30% float = RM 60m raised → funds Centres 8–10 directly (Centres 11–12 from post-IPO retained earnings + minor follow-on). Stretch RM 300m mcap × 30% = RM 90m → funds Centres 8–12 directly. Both scenarios assume the 15× P/E ceiling for Bursa FEC/leisure comps. The IPO is the exit event for this round's equity investors who haven't already exited via secondary markets. (RPS already redeemed at Y6.)
Centres 8–12 + regional expansion Gate: Main Market IPO priced + RM 60m+ raised
Post-IPO build-out. Base case: RM 60m IPO proceeds fund Centres 8–10 directly; Centres 11–12 follow from post-IPO retained earnings + minor follow-on. Stretch case: RM 90m proceeds fund Centres 8–12 directly. By Y12, MarCo operates 12 centres with multi-site royalty stream. Asset Co investors already exited at Y5 via the LEAP consolidation event at 1.79× / 13.4% IRR — they are no longer in the cap table by this stage.
One centre to twelve · LEAP → ACE → Main Market.
Rawang is Centre 1. The build-out rides Bursa's three-stage listing escalator: LEAP as the consolidation gate (MarCo absorbs AssetCo, AC investors exit at fair-value buyout), ACE Market at Y5 raises RM 15–25m to fund Centres 4–7, then Main Market at Y8 raises RM 60m (Base) funding Centres 8–10 — or RM 90m (Stretch) funding Centres 8–12. Each subsequent location is own-and-operate or licence-and-royalty (8% revenue royalty per site, operator does the heavy lifting).
(Anchor)
build-out
LEAP bridge optional
KL · Penang
MarCo absorbs AssetCo · raises RM 15–25m · AC investors exit @ 1.79×
Johor Bahru
ACE-funded
Klang Valley S. · Sabah
ACE-funded
RM 200m base · Centre 7 Sarawak
Post-IPO
Regional
Singapore?
+ regional
Three layers. None of them the building.
A new entrant builds a venue cold. PlayTown arrives with six years of operator infrastructure that competitors would need a decade to assemble.
- MetaHub organizer relationships (6 yrs)
- Academy partnerships
- Coach networks
- School + corporate event clients
- League formats refined over 6 yrs
- Tournament scheduling know-how
- Holiday camp programmes
- The "what brings the 8th visit" engine
- Revenue share on attendee family spend
- Turnkey event operations (we run it)
- Venue hire subsidized by ancillary spend
- Organizers can't run a better event elsewhere
Where others failed — and how we don't.
FECs in Malaysia and Southeast Asia have a brutal track record. We mapped four named failure modes from public records and operator interviews, then designed PlayTown to structurally avoid each.
Per-visit pricing kills weekly-repeat economics
Outdoor-led FECs claim "weather-proof"
Mall-based FECs depend on mall traffic
Single-Co structure forces yield investors to take operating risk
Operating stress + the asymmetric downside option
If MarCo revenue drops 30% permanently (the Premortem-grade structural-weakness scenario), the Operator Fee still hits its fixed-fee floor: Asset Co receives at minimum RM 200k Y1 → RM 1,000k Y6+, paid because MarCo remains solvent under -30% (the operating model survives the haircut even with fixed costs unchanged).
Asymmetric option — Asset Co's strategic re-tenant call (operator-risk hedge): If a single operator structurally underperforms but the underlying demand is intact, Asset Co can re-tenant specific zones to specialist operators. Two zones are the cleanest re-tenant candidates: (1) Sports — pickleball is the fastest-growing recreational sport in SEA and football academy networks are well-established M$200m+ businesses. (2) F&B Food Plaza — 8 stalls operated by family-scale stallholders over a 6–10 year hold meaningfully under-capitalise the F&B opportunity; a corporate F&B operator pays better rent + revenue share.
What the option does NOT hedge: demand-side failure. If the PlayTown campus concept fails to draw families in Rawang (location or product-market fit miss), a specialist pickleball academy doesn't want courts in a dead campus either. The re-tenant option hedges operator-side failure (MarCo executes poorly); it does not hedge catchment-side failure. In a catchment-failure scenario, Asset Co's residual is approximately the fixture liquidation value (modeled at RM 1m Y12 terminal).
The trade-off is honest: Asset Co GAINS specialist royalty income (+25% Y6+ uplift on bottom-up bear stream); MarCo LOSES Sports + F&B revenue (×0.85 haircut). Modeled in the calculator's Bear+ scenario: Asset Co 1.70× / 7.2% IRR / Y9 vs. Bear 1.47× / 5.2% / Y10 (AC prefers re-tenant, +0.23× MOIC). MarCo 2.14× / 8.6% IRR / Y11 vs. Bear 2.52× / 10.7% / Y10 (MarCo prefers no re-tenant, −0.38×). Combined 50:50 portfolio: Bear 1.99× / 8.4% / Y10 vs. Bear+ 1.92× / 8.0% / Y10 — combined slightly favours Bear (−0.07×), but Asset Co holders who want a hedge against operator-side risk can elect the Bear+ path. This optionality is structurally absent from single-tenant FEC vehicles — Asset Co's downside is bounded by the call option, not by MarCo's struggle.
distributable cash
goes negative under
30% permanent stress
PlayTown Rawang — the architectural anchor.
Twin KLCC-inspired climber towers as the visual signature. Bunga Raya (Malaysia's national flower) anchors the secondary climber. The whole campus is a model of Malaysia itself — Indoor Kampung, Outdoor City/Twin Towers, Splash Pulau (islands).
The bet at the centre.
No external investor takes more risk on PlayTown than the founder and the landlord. Ken commits RM 4.5m of his own capital alongside the raise; Lowyat Group commits RM 6m of site infrastructure plus a multi-year membership-bundle pipeline. RM 10.5m of value at risk before any external investor enters.
Ken Ong · Founder/CEO
- Second-time operator. Previously founded MetaHub.
- Asset Co: RM 3m cash subscription → 60% of Asset Co (External RM 2m → 40%)
- Marketing Co notional founder pre-money: RM 3m — founder equity granted for the IP, brand concept, and operating playbook brought to the venture. No cash component.
- Marketing Co co-invest: RM 1.5m cash alongside External cash equity (RM 2.3m) and External RPS (RM 1.2m, debt-like, off equity table)
- Resulting MarCo position: 66.2% of RM 6.8m equity post-money
- Total cash deployed: RM 4.5m (RM 3m Asset Co + RM 1.5m Marketing Co)
- Total equity value at risk: RM 7.5m (RM 3m Asset Co + RM 4.5m Marketing Co including founder pre-money)
- Disclosure — MetaHub & PlayTown structural separation: MetaHub is operational and restructured for sustainability — a lean team running growing revenue channels (academy partnerships, CCA programmes, advertising banners, event-agent revenue share). The business survived 2025–2026 headwinds by aggressively cutting fixed cost and diversifying topline without inflating headcount.
A legacy RCPS instrument issued in Sep 2020 during the Covid period remains under active discussion with the existing holder. Context: MetaHub accrued rental obligations through 2020–2022 and repaid all rental dues in full. The original RCPS redemption assumptions reflect a pre-restructure expectation; the structural constraint of football-field rental — a slot-based revenue model with a natural earnings-velocity ceiling — has been the catalyst for a revised resolution path now in negotiation. (This sentence describes a live commercial matter; specific terms and timing are between MetaHub and the RCPS holder.)
PlayTown is structurally different. Per-visit + membership ARPU, four revenue zones, weekly cadence design — revenue velocity an order of magnitude above slot rental. PlayTown's RPS (RM 1.2m, Y6 redemption) sits inside MarCo, ring-fenced from MetaHub, serviced from MarCo's own operating cash flow.
Ken's current commitments span MetaHub oversight (lean team running day-to-day), advising the Anyara Hills family development, and pre-launch leadership of PlayTown — with PlayTown the primary focus through the Q1 2027 open.
Lowyat Group · Anchor partner
- RM 6m site infrastructure investment (roads, utilities, frontage)
- 600–1,000 new homes/year bundle PlayTown memberships at handover
- Bandar Tasik Puteri — 750,000 reachable population, 165,000 families
- Lease commitment aligned with 12-year operating model
- Selangor's highest median household income at RM 13,296/mo
Want the full data room?
Full financial model spreadsheet, TCC Capital independent valuation, signed Lowyat term sheet, cap table waterfall, construction schedule. Available to qualified sophisticated investors after a 30-minute conversation with Ken.