- Ascot Sports has been re-issued a sports betting licence by the Ministry of Finance recently. Meanwhile, the group also announced the undertaking of a rights issue of 1-for-8 8% ICULS of RM1 each to fund the acquisition. Up to 614.5m ICULS will be issued. The ICULS are converted at RM1 and is for a period of 10 years. (BMSB)
The Malaysian government agreed last week to the privatisation of several tracts of government- owned land in Kuala Lumpur, executives familiar with the matter say. The largest of the deals will be the sale of Sungei Besi airport, a 160-hectare field south of Kuala Lumpur that still houses an air-force base and a flying school. It is the single largest remaining tract of government-owned real estate in Kuala Lumpur and could be worth hundreds of millions of ringgit.
- According to the executives, the area is likely to be privatised to a consortium that includes the Armed Forces Superannuation Fund (30%), One Malaysia Development Fund (30%) and a company linked to businessman Desmond Lim (40%). Mr Lim, a confidant of Prime Minister Najib Razak, owns listed development company Malton, which is a shareholder in the wildly successful Pavilion shopping complex in Kuala Lumpur.
- It isn't clear how much they will pay the government for the land but it is believed that the consortium will push ahead with over RM1bn of development that will include an Islamic Financial Centre.
- The freeing up of the state land was first announced by Mr Najib in his Budget speech last year and repeated in his recent address unveiling his New Economic Model (NEM). The projects are aimed at boosting growth and raising cash to pare the government's growing budget deficit.
- Other tracts of real estate that have been cleared for privatisation include small plots of land in Jalan Stonor and Jalan Cochrane in the capital. And the exercise is likely to extend to the historic Sultan Abdul Samad building in central Kuala Lumpur, which used to house the government court complex. The building is likely to be gentrified although it will keep its original fasade as it is considered a heritage landmark. It isn't clear which parties will snag these deals. (SBT)
- It cannot be ascertained if Malton or Lim, through his private company, has a stake in the consortium. It is learnt that the mandate of the consortium is to develop the 162-hectare site into a multi-billion ringgit Islamic financial centre. The 1MDB would hold 30% interest in the consortium while Lim or Malton would hold 40%. LTAT would hold the remaining 30%. (Financial Daily)
- Last year, stock exchange operators in Malaysia, Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore, Indonesia and Vietnam had agreed to explore possibilities of enabling investors in the region to trade stocks in participating exchanges from a single access point.
- Yusli said the exchange's status, as per FTSE watch list, will be upgraded to advanced emerging market by September this year from the current secondary emerging market classification. Bursa Malaysia is also seeking approvals from the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission to enable US investors to trade local financial derivatives products directly. Other initiatives in the pipeline include a plan to launch multi-currency exchange traded funds and making the bond market accessible to retail investors. (StarBiz)
WCT hopes to clinch some RM2bn worth of jobs this year. Its current orderbook of RM3.2bn is expected to last for another two years. "We expect order book replenishment in 2010 to be good. It should at least match 2009's RM2bn job win," said chairman Datuk Capt Ahmad Sufian.
- He also said that claims made by the group against Dubai's Meydan LLC was ongoing. In Jan-09, Meydan cancelled a racecourse construction deal with WCT and its partner Arabtec Construction LLC. A month later,
- It was reported that WCT Bhd and Arabtec will claim an estimated RM500m from Meydan for work done at the Nad Al Sheba Dubai Racecourse. Meydan forfeited the RM178m performance bond held as deposit, when it awarded the job to the joint venture company in Oct-07. "The arbitration is still ongoing. We are trying to recover what we're entitled to, one of them being the performance bond," said deputy MD Goh Chin Liong. (BT)
Malaysia Airlines (MAS) will receive contractual compensation for further delay in the delivery of the A380 super-jumbo aircraft, its MD and CEO Tengku Datuk Azmil Zahruddin said. He, however, did not reveal details of the payment. Delivery of the A380s has been delayed for the third time. (Bernama, Financial Daily)
AirAsia X has denied that its aircraft was flying too low while approaching Gold Coast airport in two incidents last week as the Australian Transport Safety Bureau (ATSB) investigates the airline for two safety breaches on May 3 and 4.
- Flight Global reported that the approach was made in instrument meteorological conditions, indicating low visibility due to cloudy or bad weather conditions at that time. The bureau said a similar incident involving the same aircraft occured on May 3 in visual meteorological conditions, which indicates sufficient visibility.
- "To say we are putting passengers at risk and flying below the radar is completely incorrect. The landing was smooth and we are transparent and that is why we are sharing al the flight data. We will fully cooperate with the ATSB," Azran said. (Starbiz)
Pos Malaysia has not ruled out the possibility of becoming a controlling shareholder in Transmile Group, but any firm decision will only be made after an extensive cost and benefit study, said its top official. However, it has not committed to carrying out any such study at the moment.
- "It is one of the options, but if we want to take over, there must be a proper business plan. Otherwise we stand to lose due to Transmile's huge debt of almost RM500m," Pos Malaysia chairman Tan Sri Dr Aseh Che Mat said. Pos Malaysia managing director and CEO Datuk Syed Faisal Albar said it was adopting a defensive stance on its current stake in Transmile. (BT)
- According to sources, the Hong Kong-based retailer is buying 14 Bintang retail stores and two high-end Mercato supermarkets. The purchase will help Dairy Farm's Malaysian unit, GCH Retail (Malaysia), expand its portfolio of stores from the current 105 Giant outlets (supermarkets and hypermarkets) and 16 Cold Storage supermarkets.
- It is understood that once the deal is completed, the Bintang outlets will be rebranded as Giant and the Mercato outlets in the Sri Hartamas Shopping Centre and Pavilion Kuala Lumpur will become Cold Storage. (BT)
United U-Li Corp plans to invest some RM50m next year to set up a new plant and increase its production capacity by 67%. It is looking for suitable land, preferably in the Klang Valley, to build the plant, and once it is completed, the company hopes to produce up to 50,000 tonnes of steel annually.
- The group, which manufactures cable support system (CSS), integrated ceiling system and light fittings, currently has two plants in Selangor and Perak, with total output of 30,00 tonnes of steel annually.
- Group MD Datuk James Lee Yoon said the CSS market, estimated to be worth RM500m, is becoming more promising as the government releases new projects to boost the country's economy. ULI is bidding for contracts worth RM100m this year, of which it hopes to clinch at least 70%. They include the new low-cost carrier terminal project, which it hopes to be concluded by 3Q10, Lee said. (BT)
Masterskill Education Group, en route to a Main Market listing, has received Ministry of Health and Medical Council of Malaysia approvals to offer bachelor of medicine and bachelor of surgery (MBBS) courses. The ministry has approved Masterskill's application to offer the MBBS degree in partnership with Chettinad Hospital and Research Institute of Tamil Nadu. (Starbiz)
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