KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 21): Shanghai state government linked-Greenland Group and Iskandar Waterfront City Bhd (formerly known as Tebrau Teguh Bhd), have inked a RM2.4 billion deal to develop the Tebrau Bay Waterfront City.

Under the deal, Greenland Group will invest RM2.4 billion to acquire 128-acres from IWCB (fundamental: 1.65;  valuation: 1.5) under Phase 1 of the project, which will showcase a snow world theme park, an opera house, a hospital specialising in Chinese traditional medicine and a school.

In a statement this afternoon, Johor Menteri Besar Datuk Seri Mohamed Khaled Nordin said high impact foreign direct investments (FDI), including from China, were necessary to jump-start economic activity in Johor.

“I welcome their long-term strategic interest to jointly transform Johor Bahru into a modern international waterfront city and destination,” he said.

The deal represents Greenland Group's second investment in Iskandar Malaysia.

Last April, it also invested RM600 million for the joint-development of 13.6 acres in Danga Bay with Iskandar Waterfront Holdings Sdn Bhd (IWH), where a RM2.2 billion integrated mixed property project is coming up, including the recently-launched 'Jade Palace' luxury condominiums.

IWCB is 47%-owned by Johor-based IWH. IWH is a public private partnership involving federal, state and private interests, with its shareholders comprising the Johor government through its investment arm Kumpulan Prasarana Rakyat Johor, Khazanah Nasional Bhd and Tan Sri Lim Kang Hoo.

IWCB shares were traded 8 sen or 5.52% higher at RM1.53 as at 3.03 pm, with some 3.63 million shares done.

(Note: The Edge Research's fundamental score reflects a company’s profitability and balance sheet strength, calculated based on historical numbers. The valuation score determines if a stock is attractively valued or not, also based on historical numbers. A score of 3 suggests strong fundamentals and attractive valuations.)