Thursday 28 Mar 2024
By
main news image

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on July 26, 2017

KUALA LUMPUR: Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani said eight companies have registered interest to be the master developer of the RM12.35 billion Bandar Malaysia project.

“I was informed by the treasury sec-gen (secretary-general) that about eight companies have submitted their interest. By the end of this month or early next month, they will have to sit down and go through it,” he said, referring to Tan Sri Dr Mohd Irwan Serigar Abdullah, who is also chairman of Bandar Malaysia Sdn Bhd and TRX City Sdn Bhd.

“The board of 1MDB (1Malaysia Development Bhd) will look at the proposals, and we will leave them to it,” he told the press on the sidelines of Invest Malaysia 2017 yesterday.

Earlier this month, a request for proposal (RFP) was issued to invite interested parties to submit their plan as the master developer of the development, following the termination of the planned sale of a 60% stake in Bandar Malaysia.

In May, TRX City called off the sale of the stake to IWH CREC Sdn Bhd, a 60:40 joint venture (JV) between Iskandar Waterfront Holdings Sdn Bhd and China Railway Engineering Corp (M) Sdn Bhd, after saying the JV failed to meet payment obligations under the share sale deal, rendering it null and void.

In response, IWH CREC said the allegation was unacceptable, as IWH CREC had fulfilled “all the required payment obligations” under the agreement entered into on Dec 31, 2015.

Following the termination of the deal, TRX City indicated that the RFP will have stricter criteria, adding that the master developer must be a Fortune 500-affiliated company.

A slew of local and foreign companies, according to news reports, were said to be keen on the Bandar Malaysia project, including property tycoon Tan Sri Desmond Lim and China-based real estate giant Dalian Wanda Group, as well as government-linked companies.

However, Lim’s flagship company, Malton Bhd, issued a denial to Bursa Malaysia that neither its directors nor shareholders were in any talks to bid for the project, after rumours surfaced of a joint bid from Malton, Wanda and a retirement fund.

The Straits Times reported yesterday several companies from China and Japan have submitted proposals, including China Communications Construction Co Ltd, China Gezhouba Group, Daiwa House Group and Mitsui Fudosan.

      Print
      Text Size
      Share