Monday, October 25, 2010




Saturday, October 23, 2010

Karambunai SPV set up


THE controlling shareholder of Karambunai Corp Bhd (KCB), together with a Beijing-based contractor, has set up a Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) to assess the feasibility of developing an integrated eco-nature resort in Karambunai.

With local and overseas consultants, including its financial consultant China Construction Bank International, the SPV has presented proposals to the government to assess the relevance of developing Karambunai to spearhead tourism growth in the Eastern Corridor.

To date, KCB holds no equity in the SPV, nor has it received any official notification from the government or signed any agreement with the SPV to develop Karambunai, the company noted to Bursa Malaysia yesterday.

Read more: Karambunai SPV set up http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/20101023001717/Article/index_html#ixzz139RnkThd

Friday, October 15, 2010








Sunday, October 10, 2010

Mah Sing on aggressive land acquisition trail

MAH Sing Group Bhd (8583), the country's fifth largest property developer by revenue, is in talks with the government and private land owners to buy land in the Klang Valley, Penang and Johor.


Group managing director Tan Sri Leong Hoy Kum said the company is on an aggressive land acquisition trail.

For government land, Leong said Mah Sing is open to cooperation with relevant government-linked companies, but he declined to disclose the name of the company it is talking to.

"We are confident that we will lock in more land soon. We do not want to miss the chance to buy government land, more so with the mass rapid transit (MRT) project that is coming up.

"There are also many government projects being tendered out from now until the middle of next year ... so we must get ourselves ready to capitalise on the opportunity," Leong said.
The three-line MRT project, costing more than RM30 billion, is to improve public transport in the Klang Valley.

Mah Sing has RM300 million cash in hand, some of which will be used to buy land. By early next year, it expects to receive RM215 million from the sale of an eight-storey building to Koperasi Permodalan Felda Bhd.

"We have enough funds," Leong said yesterday after the company's extraordinary general meeting in Kuala Lumpur.

Mah Sing has 21 ongoing projects worth RM6.3 billion in the Klang Valley, Penang and Johor. It is planning 10 more projects, expected to be launched from year-end.

Among them are Kinrara Residence, a RM830 million medium- to high-end housing development in Puchong, featuring 836 bungalows as well as semi-detached and super-link homes.

Leong said he is confident the company's sales this year will surpass the RM1.5 billion mark, due to strong numbers already locked in from its balanced and diversified property portfolio. Up to July this year, it had raked in RM1.02 billion.

Leong also said that he is bullish on the property market for the next one to two years.

"We should not worry too much about over-heating. We are promoting Malaysia 'My Second Home' scheme in China, Singapore, Hong Kong, Taiwan and Europe. Some 10 per cent of foreigners contribute to our sales and we expect more going forward," he said.

Mah Sing also hopes the government will further open up its policies to encourage foreigners to buy properties in Malaysia, especially those in the high-end segment, he added.



Thursday, October 7, 2010

Mudajaya to develop power project in Laos

Mudajaya Corp Bhd has entered into a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the government of Laos to develop a nominal 60 MW Nam Poui 1 Hydroelectric Power Project.

Mudajaya Corporation is a wholly-owned subsidiary of listed Mudajaya Group Bhd.

In a filing to Bursa Malaysia today, Mudajaya Group said that under the MOU, the Lao government would grant the developer the sole mandate and exclusive right to develop, implement and operate the project on the build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis, if it was feasible in all aspects.

The MOU, signed yesterday, is valid and enforceable for 21 months from its execution.


"Provided the project appears feasible in accordance with the terms of the MOU, the parties shall negotiate to conclude a project development agreement (PDA) before the expiry of the mandate period.

"The PDA shall confirm the terms of the exclusive mandate granted by the government of Laos to the developer in order to enable the development and implementation of the project on a BOT basis with a concession period of 30 years inclusive of construction period commencing from the signing date of the concession agreement to be entered into by and between the government of Laos and the project company.

"The project company is targeted to be jointly held by the developer and government of Laos on 75:25 equity basis," Mudajaya Group said. -- Bernama


Wednesday, October 6, 2010

Mixed views on MMC move to buy UEM Read more: Mixed views on MMC move to buy UEM

OSK says it would be an unusual move by MMC while Mercury Securities sees the deal as a good fit for MMC to strengthen its construction and infrastructure business


Analysts gave mixed views over MMC Corp Bhd's (2194) plans to buy over UEM Group Bhd, with many saying that they were not sure of its rationale and that the intention had been made known only in recent days.

On Monday, MMC acknowledged that it had made a preliminary proposal to acquire UEM. It was responding to a query from Bursa Malaysia following reports of the takeover bid.

Earlier reports, which did not name sources, said MMC was making a RM15.6 billion offer to buy over UEM whose ultimate prized possession is undoubtedly PLUS Expressways Bhd, concessionaire of several highways, including the North-South Expressway.

OSK Research said the RM2.8 billion offer that MMC supposedly made for Khazanah's 16.7 per cent stake in UEM would also mean that PLUS would be valued at RM16.7 billion, still significantly lower than its current market capitalisation value of some RM21 billion.
"Furthermore, MMC's two largest shareholders - Permodalan Nasional Bhd and the Employees Provident Fund - have not been consulted in the structuring of the proposal," it said.

If that was so, it would be an unusual move by MMC, which has generally ensured the support of its two largest shareholders (other than Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al Bukhary) in all of its major proposals," OSK said in its research note.

OSK also said it was unsure if the proposal would be accepted by the Ministry of Finance (MOF).

The research house is maintaining the stock's "neutral" recommendation for now given the many uncertainties, with no change to its earnings or fair value of RM3.07.

Little has been heard from UEM itself apart from chief executive Datuk Izzaddin Idris telling Business Times last week that he was unaware of any takeover plans by MMC.

OSK said MMC's net gearing as at June this year was 271.7 per cent, which was uncomfortably high and not expected to excite potential bondholders should the deal be financed by debt papers.

However, Mercury Securities analyst Edmund Tham sees the deal as a good fit for MMC to strengthen its construction and infrastructure business.

Tham said that MMC could leverage on UEM's status as master developer of the Iskandar Malaysia development project in Nusajaya, Johor, and find synergies for future development projects involving property, commercial, logistics, warehousing, industrialisation or the port business.

Another analyst from CLSA felt that the proposal was surprising given UEM's sheer size and the high financing required for the purchase.

"Historically, MMC is mostly known for its power and port businesses. So the move is unusual, but possibly MMC, which has stakes in IJM Corp Bhd, wants to expand and beef up its construction and property businesses," said the analyst.


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