20121025 1114 Malaysia Corporate Related News.

TH Plantations is set to buy 6,500ha of oil palm estate and a quarry in Sarawak for more than RM200m. "It's a brownfield block in Bintulu, away from native customary land. The oil palms are young, between two and five years old," a source said. "It's  going for RM20,500 per hectare. It is at a slight premium because this Bintulu estate includes a quarry mine, separately priced at around RM70m. It has income-generating rock reserves of up to 30 years," the source added. (BT)

Petroliam Nasional (Petronas) and Progress Energy Resources Corp have agreed to meet Canadian officials in Ottawa this week on its RM16bn proposed acquisition of Progress. Petronas said its subsidiary Petronas Carigali Canada Ltd, together with Progress, will be meeting officials from Canada's Ministry of Industry to better understand the Canadian government's requirements with respect to the proposed acquisition. Based on the announcement by the Canadian Ministry of Industry last Friday, Petronas said it has up to 30 days, or longer as mutually agreed to, to make any additional representations and submit any further undertakings. In this regard, Petronas said it will work together with Progress to ensure that the Canadian Industry Minister Christian Paradis has the necessary information to determine that the proposed acquisition of Progress would be of net benefit to Canada. (BT)

Sunway REIT aims to achieve RM7bn in total assets under management in three to five years through a combination of acquisitions from its sponsor, Sunway Bhd, and external acquisitions. According to CEO Datuk Jeffrey Ng, Sunway REIT does not intend to expand overseas. (Bernama)

The government will not cut the  excise duty for cars, dashing hopes of driving cheaper cars. International Trade and Industries Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said that the excise duty on imported and locally manufactured cars cannot be reduced because it would have an adverse impact on the industry as a whole. A reduction will have a significant impact on government's revenue from excise duty now estimated at RM7bn a year. (Bernama)

Prominent corporate lawyer Datuk E Sreesanthan, who is facing charges of insider trading, has offered himself to be re-elected as a director of Sime Darby Bhd in its coming AGM. Sreesanthan had taken a leave of absence from Sime Darby on July 25, five days after he was charged by Securities Commission with seven counts of insider trading. Sime Darby previously said Sreesanthan had indicated his intention to retire by rotation when his term comes up for renewal in the company AGM. However, executive close to Sreesanthan said he has prepared for all the challenges for his case during his leave of absence. As a result, he now has time to go back to resuming his duties as a board member and is offering himself to be re-elected to the Sime Board. (Financial Daily)

Naim Holdings Bhd says its subsidiary Naim Engineering Sdn Bhd has confirmed the acceptance of a letter of award from  Gadang Engineering (M) Sdn Bhd to be a subcontractor for the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) project in the Klang Valley. The Package S2 contract involves the execution and completion of elevated stations and other works at Taman Industri Sungai Buloh, PJU 5 and Dataran Sunway for RM204.6m. (BT)

Taiwan's Phison Electronics Corp is looking to list its operations on Bursa Malaysia by 2016. Its Malaysian-born CEO and co-founder Datuk Pua Khein-Seng said that the plan to float Phisontech Electronics’ was not for capital gains, but more to showcase the ability of home-grown information technology companies to thrive globally. Phison Electronic, listed on the Taiwan Stock Exchange and established in 2000, manufactures and markets universal serial bus (USB) flash pen drives, card readers. adapters, flash memory controllers and integrated circuits. (BT)

The Federal Land Development Authority (FELDA) buys palm oil from its settlers at market prices and not at a discount, said its chairman Tan Sri Mohd Isa Abdul Samad. His comment aimed to dismiss allegations made by an opposition leader that Felda Palm Industries Sdn Bhd was buying fresh fruit bunch at a discount of RM200 per tonne from the traded monthly crude palm oil prices. (Financial Daily)

Four telcos shortlisted for DTTB infrastructure
Four out of eight companies which submitted their bids for the digital terrestrial television broadcasting (DTTB) infrastructure buildup is believed to have been shortlisted. The four, said to be Celcom Axiata, Puncak Semangat SB, REDtone International and Sapura Holdings, will now enter the second stage of bidding. DTTB is for the free-to-air channels to migrate from an analogue to digital format. Telekom Malaysia and YTL Communications did not submit a bid. (StarBiz)

No excise duty cut on cars
The government will not cut the excise duty for cars. International Trade and Industries Minister Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed said that the excise duty on imported and locally manufactured cars cannot be reduced because it would have an adverse impact on the industry as a whole. Government’s revenue from excise duty is estimated at RM7bn a year. Mustapa said that “the government is aware that the domestic automotive industry has to be developed further to become more competitive and offer more benefits to the people, particularly in selling cars at a reasonable price.” (Financial Daily)

Daya wins tender to construct mall in Putrajaya
Daya Materials is the winner for the construction portion of IOI Properties’ upcoming IOI City Mall in Putrajaya, valued at RM500m. The mall sits on 36 acres and will be complemented by two office blocks and a hotel. While the mall is scheduled to be completed in 2014, the office blocks will be completed a year later. The mall has a GDV of RM1bn and will target the 1.1m residents living within 10-minutes drive from the Putrajaya area. (StarBiz)

Bumi Armada wins contracts worth RM147m
Bumi Armada has secured five contracts totaling RM147m, with an optional extension value of RM102m. The contracts are for works in Gabon, Congo and Saudi Arabia. The RM12m contract in Gabon is for the charter of an accommodation boat while the RM92m contracts in Congo are for the charter of a towing vessel and an accommodation barge. The Saudi Arabia’s RM43m contract is for the charter of towing vessels. (Malaysian Reserve)

RM1.04bn for forest plantation scheme
The government has allocated RM1.04bn for a forest plantation scheme to ensure sustainable wood supplies in the country. Malaysian Timber Industry Board (MTIB) director-general Dr Jalaluddin Harun said the allocation would be used to turn 375,000 ha nationwide into forest plantations from 2006 until 2021. A total of 106,000 ha had been approved for the planting purposes, of which 56,000 ha had been planted. 40 companies have taken part in the scheme, with RM650m soft loan of the RM1.04bn allocation disbursed to them. (StarBiz)

Request for RA extension for rubber-based producers likely to be rejected
MITI believes the request to extend reinvestment allowance (RA) by rubber-based producers whose exports rose 14.8% to RM13.4bn for the first eight months of this year will most probably be rejected again by the government. MITI says the government views the current 15-year period granted for companies to enjoy tax break for reinvestments to be sufficient. (Malaysian Reserve)

Pacificmas Bhd has announced that it will be delisted from the Main Board with effect from Oct 30.On  Sept 11, the financial services provider announced that its board of directors had resolved to table the proposed members' voluntary winding-up of the company at an EGM. (BT)