KUALA LUMPUR (July 25): IJM Corp Bhd on Monday (July 25) clarified that it has no intention to dispose of its portfolio of highway concession assets to private, not-for-profit entity Amanat Lebuhraya Rakyat. 

Nonetheless, IJM said it is in advanced discussion with the Government to restructure its toll highway concessions. 

“In accordance with good corporate governance practice, the company will disclose any relevant information to Bursa Malaysia and to our investors in a timely manner,” said the group. 

IJM said this in a bourse filing, in response to an article by The Edge Malaysia titled “IJM in talks to sell highways to Amanat Lebuhraya Rakyat”, published for the week of July 25-July 31. 

The weekly, citing sources, wrote that IJM management had started talks with Senior Minister (Works) Datuk Seri Fadillah Yusof, but details are not known.

Besides the West Coast Expressway, in which IJM holds a 28.81% stake, the group owns three toll highways in Malaysia, namely the Sungai Besi Highway, also known as Besraya (100% stake); the New Pantai Expressway or NPE (100% stake); and the Semenyih to Seremban Highway, known as Lekas Highway (50% stake).

According to the weekly, the 50-year concession for the West Coast Expressway expires in 2063, the 44-year concession for Besraya in 2040, the 34-year concession for the NPE in 2030, and the 33-year concession for Lekas in 2039.

The weekly reported that if the sale of the highways go through, this would be IJM Corp's second major sale in the last two years. The group sold its entire 56.2% stake in IJM Plantations Bhd to Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd for RM1.53 billion in cash last year. 

Earlier in June, Gamuda Bhd announced that its four highway concessions in the Klang Valley — Kesas Holdings Bhd, Sistem Penyuraian Trafik KL Barat Holdings Sdn Bhd (Sprint), Lingkaran Trans Kota Holdings Bhd (Litrak) and Projek Smart Holdings Sdn Bhd (SMART) — had agreed on and finalised a draft share sale purchase agreement with Amanat Lebuhraya Rakyat.

Under the final draft agreement, the four highways are to be sold to Amanat Lebuhraya Rakyat for a total of RM4.477 billion, with Gamuda's portion amounting to RM2.347 billion.

At the closing bell on Monday, IJM Corp shares were unchanged at RM1.73, valuing the group at RM6.31 billion. The stock has risen 13.82% from when it was trading at RM1.52 on Jan 3.