KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 24): Eco World International Bhd (EWI) is planning to buy a prime development land some 12 kilometres northwest of Sydney's central business district for an estimated A$40 million, on which it intends to develop a project worth an estimated A$139 million (RM436.17 million) in gross development value.

There is an existing building on the project site with 30 en-block apartment units, and EWI's indirect unit Eco World (Macquarie) Pty Ltd has inked a call and put option deal with owners of 25 of the units to buy their units by way of a collective sale, EWI said in a statement today.

It said under Australia's Strata Schemes Development Act 2015, a site can be redeveloped or sold if 75% of the unit owners in the strata scheme agree to end their scheme.

The ones on board the call and put option deal represent about 84.2% of the strata scheme, "which enables EWI to proceed with the acquisition of all the apartment units, through a strata renewal process under the act", it said.

The plot is located at 1-3 Lachlan Avenue, Macquarie Park, Sydney, and is adjacent to the Macquarie University.

"This locale is home to one of Australia's top 10 universities and top two percent (2%) universities in the world that attracts thousands of international students annually. It is also strategically positioned within close proximity to the Macquarie Innovation Park District (MIPD), Macquarie University Train Station and Macquarie Shopping Centre," said EWI.

MIPD, it said, is Sydney's second largest business district. The proposed acquisition is expected to be completed by November 2018.

EWI plans to develop 125 units of residential apartments with a small component of retail on the plot. The project is targeted to be launched in the first half of 2019 and completed over three to four years from launch.

Funding for the proposed acquisition of the Sydney project is expected to come from a combination of the proceeds of EWI's recent initial public offering, bank borrowings and/or other debt instruments.

EWI president and chief executive officer Datuk Teow Leong Seng said the group is delighted to add the site to its growing project portfolio in Australia, as it is situated in a fast-growing location extremely popular with Sydney-siders.

"Our decision to focus on serving the needs of the domestic property market began with the acquisition of the Yarra One site in South Yarra, Melbourne. This was followed by our recent entry into the Heads of Agreement with Willmott Dixon to potentially acquire 12 projects in the United Kingdom (UK).

"The announcement today is therefore in line with our overall strategy to localise our brand wherever we operate," he said.

EWI, which was listed on Bursa Malaysia in April this year, has five ongoing projects in the UK and Australia, with a collective GDV of RM13.97 billion. Major shareholders in EWI are renowned local developer Eco World Development Group Bhd and Singapore-listed GuocoLand Ltd.

At 3.22pm, EWI shares were unchanged at RM1.07, giving it a market capitalisation of RM2.544 billion.