This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on October 5, 2017

PUTRAJAYA: The federal government said it is in talks with Selangor to extend, for the third time, the deadline to finalise the takeover of Syarikat Pengeluar Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (SPLASH).

Energy, Green Technology and Water Minister Datuk Seri Dr Maximus Ongkili said discussions are ongoing between the two sides, which will miss the deadline that ends today.

“We hope to finalise the details in two weeks,” Ongkili said at a media briefing yesterday, without elaborating.

The deadline for the two governments to iron out the details of the takeover was first moved from April 6 to today, pending the federal government’s independent valuation on SPLASH’s assets.

The valuation has since been completed by Deloitte, but Ongkili told Parliament recently that the information is merely for the federal government’s consumption.

The discussions also faced another hiccup when Selangor rejected Putrajaya’s proposed 40:60 split of the acquisition cost of SPLASH.

Putrajaya funded in full the acquisition of three other concessionaires in Selangor under the Selangor water rationalisation exercise.

Earlier reports indicated the book value of SPLASH — whose concession ends in December 2029 — to be somewhere between RM2.8 billion and RM3.2 billion.