This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on November 19, 2015.

KUALA LUMPUR: KSK Group Bhd, which was delisted from Bursa Malaysia in 2013, has no relisting plans.

Its executive director and chief executive officer Joanne Kua said the insurer and property developer prefers to stay as a private entity to grow its business.

“At this juncture, we have no plans of relisting the group. We will remain a private company and put our focus on developing [the] 8 Conlay [project in Kuala Lumpur],” Kua told reporters at the launch of the project’s Tower A yesterday.

KSK was delisted on Nov 7, 2013, after major shareholders privatised the company via a selective capital reduction and repayment exercise.

Kua said KSK is optimistic that the RM5.4 billion 8 Conlay mixed development in Jalan Conlay here will do well amid the current property market slowdown.

The 8 Conlay project, which features residential, retail and hotel components, has seen 70% of its Tower A units reserved by interested buyers.

“Out of the 70% reserved units, 80% of them are reserved by Malaysians. On top of that, we also market 8 Conlay to international markets, so we are not too worried about the project.

“Moreover, 8 Conlay positions itself as a branded luxury product, which I think is a notch higher than regular luxury units. Branded residences deliver exceptional value as they normally command better capital yields in the long term,” she said.

Kua said 8 Conlay is targeted for completion by the end of 2020.

She said the group is currently in the midst of evaluating land in the Klang Valley and Penang, but said there had been nothing firm.