MRCB announces three major deals in one day

Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd (MRCB) has announced three major deals in one day, beginning with an RM1.63bil privatisation deal to refurbish and upgrade the Bukit Jalil National Sports Complex. This confirms a StarBiz report in July.

MRCB said that the deal will entail the transfer of three pieces of leasehold land totalling 92.5 acres in Bukit Jalil to Rukun Juang Sdn Bhd, an 85%-owned unit of MRCB. The remaining 15% is owned by Rasma Contractors.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, MRCB said the cost of the project, which would be carried out over two phases, was commercially negotiated based on the construction work it required and in accordance with the Government’s approved designs and specifications.

MRCB said it was chosen by the Government after 11 companies submitted proposals in an open national tender process undertaken by the Public-Private Partnership Unit.

The first phase of the project will entail readying the Bukit Jalil National Stadium for the 2017 South-East Asian (SEA) Games as well as enhancing the Putra Stadium, the National Aquatic Centre and the National Hockey Stadium and improving integration to the current and existing public transportation links and increasing pedestrian access across the site.

After the SEA Games, phase 2 will commence in 2018, consisting of the creation of KL Sports City, a fully integrated sports hub which would include high-performance training facilities, a sports rehabilitation science centre, a youth park, public sports facilities, a sports museum and a sports-focused retail mall.

MRCB said that the total project cost would be RM1.6bil and that payment will be in kind. It also said that Rukun Juang had appointed international stadium expert Populous as the project designer, as it had worked on more than 2,000 projects worth US$30bil and was a specialist in creating sporting facilities that drew people and communities together. The first phase would cost RM499.2mil and the second, RM1.1bil, while the balance of RM31.9mil would be paid to the Government in cash, MRCB said in a stock exchange filing.

“The KL Sports City project marks MRCB’s entry into sports and recreational infrastructure and allows us to build on our core strengths of delivering multi-use developments that regenerate areas of national importance. By working in a private-public partnership, we can ensure that our own corporate goals are aligned with the nation’s objective for growth and development,” said MRCB’s group managing director Tan Sri Mohamad Salim Fateh Din in a press release.

Meanwhile, MRCB’s property outfit MRCB Land has signed a 60:40 joint venture (JV) deal with Cyberview Sdn Bhd to develop Cyberjaya City Centre (CCC).

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, MRCB said it had subscribed for a 70% stake in CSB Development, a JV between MRCB Land and Cyberview, for RM269.5mil to develop CCC.

The project is located on a 141-acre freehold land parcel with an estimated gross development value (GDV) of RM8bil-RM10bil, which would be developed over the next 15 years.

The first phase of CCC, which would be built over the next seven years starting early-2016, will have a GDV of RM5.35bil.

It would include a convention centre of about 150,000-200,000 sq ft for technology-based businesses, a 300-to-400-room business-class hotel as well as 100,000-200,000 sq ft of retail space comprising food and beverage outlets to cater to the commercial activities of the centre.

“In subsequent phases, there will be a full-fledged mall and residences ranging from the low, mid and high-end as well as affordable housing,” MRCB Land executive director Imran Salim said. “We are catering to technology-based multinational companies (MNCs) as well as small and medium-sized enterprises, as these are the biggest tax contributors to the country.”

He said CCC came about in the “evolution of developing Cyberjaya”, as it was not planned in the original masterplan. “After all these years, we realised the lack of a big, central place for people to congregate so as to complete the ecosystem of Cyberjaya as a technology hub.”

Cyberview managing director Faris Yahaya said the convention was modelled after Fira Barcelona, a major trade fair institution in Spain.

“Our focus wouldn’t be on embellishments or wood carvings, but rather, the practicality of the facilities for business,” Imran said adding that over time, the masterplan would be adjusted to meet market needs as businesses came in.

Currently, MRCB’s orderbook has about RM35bil-RM40bil in GDV, which Imran said would last the group the next 20 years.

Cyberjaya now had a daytime population of about 80,000, while its night population stood at 10% of that figure.

“We’re projecting the daytime population to reach 100,000 by end-2016 and over time, the night population would increase to 30%-40%,” Imran said. “These developments, namely, facilities and infrastructure, would encourage more people to move to Cyberjaya. Apart from dwellers from the existing and incoming MNCs in Cyberjaya, we are also catering to the spillover population from neighbouring townships,” Imran said.

Separately, MRCB also announced yesterday that it had signed a management contract with Kwasa Utama Sdn Bhd for the development of Kwasa Utama, kicking off the 29.82-acre Kwasa Utama commercial development.

The development, located in the new Kwasa Damansara township in Sungai Buloh, will comprise eight office towers, one block of hotel, one block of auditorium and one common facility block.

MRCB’s provisional total contract sum for this development is about RM3.1bil, with its completion expected within 12 years.

Shares of MRCB closed at RM1.19 after an intra-day high of RM1.21. The stock has risen in the past month after having dipped to a year-to-date low of 80 sen on Aug 26. - By Cheryl Poo (The Star)