Malaysia's Hume Cemboard Bhd. (P.HCB) said Friday it has entered an agreement to buy Hume Industries (Malaysia) Bhd.'s (P.HIB) 90%-owned Hume Furniture Industries Sdn. Bhd. unit for 53.3 million ringgit ($1=MYR3.80). The move will help Hume Cemboard meet the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange's requirement that the company meet a certain level of operation, Hume Cemboard said in a statement. All three companies involved in the deal are part of diversified Hong Leong group. Hume Cemboard also said it has signed an agreement to buy the remaining 10% of HFI, which manufactures and sells wooden furniture, from Law Hun Seang for MYR4.44 million. Hume Cemboard plans to pay cash for both purchases. "The proposed acquisition will be tantamount to a backdoor listing of HFI," Hume Cemboard said. Hume Cemboard also said it is proposing to raise its authorized share capital to 350 million ordinary shares of MYR1 each, from 130 million shares of MYR1 each. Currently, Hume Industries and Quek Leng Chan, who heads Hong Leong group, own 81.4% of Hume Cemboard, which means less than 25% of the latter's shares are in public hands. Hume Cemboard and Hume Industries will take steps to comply with the 25% public shareholding requirement once the HFI purchase is done, the statement added.