SIME Darby Property Bhd (Sime Property), which very recently completed the sale of two parcels of prime land, in Kuala Lumpur and Penang, has placed an office building and a car park in Ara Damansara, Selangor, up for sale. It is believed that the sale of the two parcels may have fetched Sime Property some RM60 million while the Ara Damansara assets may be worth RM200 million.

In a response to The Edge, a Sime Property spokesperson confirmed that the sale of both parcels had just been completed. However, the company was mum on how much each of the parcels fetched and to whom they were sold. Although the deal has been completed, it is not public knowledge yet, as the value is below the required threshold for public disclosure.

Sime Property had invited bids for the land in Kuala Lumpur, located in the upscale U-Thant area near the US Embassy, and the lot in Penang, sited in the affluent area of Pulau Tikus, in 2018. Tender for both parcels closed on Aug 29, 2018. These parcels of land were considered non-core to the group.

Sime Property had earlier said the parcels “do not come under the company’s key development focus, given their small size. The parcels are intended for residential use and proceeds from the monetisation exercise will be used for the company’s future developments in key growth areas”.

The Edge has learnt that the parcel in Jalan U-Thant, with an area of 1.16 acres, was sold for RM33.33 million to Kuching-based Paramount Oracle Sdn Bhd. Paramount Oracle is controlled by the KTS Group, which is managed by Datuk Henry Lau Lee Kong, Stephen Lau Lee Kiong and Temenggong Datuk Vincent Lau Lee Ming.

It was reported that the Lau family controls Bursa Malaysia-listed BLD Plantation Bhd and several media publications such as See Hua Daily News, The Borneo Post, Utusan Borneo, Oriental Daily News and The Busy Weekly.

A detailed search on the Companies Commission of Malaysia website reveals that Paramount Oracle is owned by KTS Properties & Construction Sdn Bhd (70%) and Hamimas Enterprise Sdn Bhd (30%).

KTS Properties & Construction in turn is owned by KTS Holdings Sdn Bhd, which is equally owned by Hwa Sen Holdings Bhd, Kuching Lumber Holdings Bhd, Hock Tong Hin Sawmill Co Bhd and Hua Lim Holdings Bhd.

The shareholders of Hamimas, meanwhile, are Syarikat Maslahat Sdn Bhd (51%), Wan Mohd Shebli Wan Hamid (9.8%) and Zahrah@Sharifah Fatimah Wan Hamid, Wan Abdillah Wan Hamid, Wan Yusof Wan Hamid, Sharifah Faridah Wan Hamid and Wan Syed Nasir, who each own 7.84%. Syarikat Maslahat is owned by Wan Mohd Shebli (64.52%) and Wan Abdillah (35.48%).

As at July 11, 2019, KTS Holdings Sdn Bhd and Syarikat Maslahat were direct and indirect substantial shareholders of BLD Plantations, holding a 35.74% and 16.19% stake respectively.

As for the 1.71-acre Penang parcel, it remains unclear who the buyer is, although a source says it was sold to a mid-sized developer. The land is located on the corner of Jalan Cantonment and Jalan Biggs. ­According to Sime Property’s listing prospectus released in November 2017, the market value of the land was an estimated RM37 million.

Meanwhile, Sime Property also confirmed that it is calling for bids to sell an office block and parking lots in Ara Damansara.

“Sime Darby Brunsfield Holdings Sdn Bhd, a 60% subsidiary of Sime Darby Property and the developer of Oasis Corporate Park, is planning to unlock the value of its development from the disposal of Block F through an open tender,” the Sime Darby spokesperson says. The closing date for the tender is March 13.

“Oasis Corporate Park, which opened in 2015, is a thriving residential, commercial and retail development in Petaling Jaya that benefits from excellent connectivity and its strategic location in the mature township of Ara Damansara,” the spokesperson adds.

The building is 12 storeys high and directly fronts Jalan Lapangan Terbang Subang. It is a freehold property with a net lettable area of 177,000 sq ft. The building has been rented out to multinational corporations and financial institutions. It is learnt that the building may be worth RM100 million.

Sime Property is also selling 3,000 car park bays at the site and they are believed to be worth another RM100 million.

It is no secret that Sime Property plans to sell off non-strategic parts of its vast land bank and other commercial assets under management. In the financial year ended June 30, 2017, it sold 325.7ha of freehold land in Glengowrie Estate in Hulu Langat, Selangor, to Petaling Garden Sdn Bhd for RM428.8 million. Last May, Sime Property sold 121.41ha of land in Bukit Selarong, Kedah, making a gain of RM81.1 million from the disposal.

In August 2019, it was reported that Sime Property plans to monetise 1,268 acres of land in Kedah within the next two years. The net book value of the land is RM60 million. Sime Property plans to use the proceeds from the disposal for future working capital and to keep gearing at a manageable level.

Sime Property’s group CEO Datuk Wan Hashimi AlBakri Wan Amin Jaffri had said that the land bank in Kedah was low-yielding and there is a cost to holding it. Hence, Sime Property might as well invest the proceeds in its projects in the Klang Valley. Nevertheless, he noted that it would not be easy to find a buyer as the land was scattered in several plots.
 

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