Finance Ministry is tight-lipped on the acquisition of 51% stake in developer building Malaysia’s tallest tower.
The Finance Ministry has reportedly acquired a 51 percent stake in the company building Southeast Asia’s tallest building at the Tun Razak Exchange (TRX) in Kuala Lumpur. But a top official appears to have no direct knowledge of the deal that was said to have occurred last year.
“I have to get the details for you, I will get the details later,” said Second Finance Minister Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani, when asked to confirm whether they had acquired a majority stake in Mulia Property Development.
He said this on Thursday (11 January) after launching the registry for the Board of Valuers, Appraisers, Estate Agents and Property Managers (BOVAEP).
According to an anonymous source, the 51 percent stake was purchased by MKD Signature around two to three months ago. It was acquired from Indonesian conglomerate Mulia Group’s subsidiary Mulia International.
MKD Signature is fully controlled by Sentuhan Budiman, which is equally owned by Mohmad Isa and the Finance Ministry’s Undersecretary of Strategic Investment Division Datuk Ahmad Badri Mohd Zahir.
In addition, the company has an unfulfilled RM2 billion charge generated on 15 September 2017 from HSBC Bank Malaysia.
Notably, Mulia Property Development is building The Exchange 106 tower in TRX. In 2015, the firm paid RM665 million to acquire the building’s 3.42-acre site and development rights from master developer TRX City Sdn Bhd.
Thereafter, China State Construction Engineering Corp was appointed to construct the 106-storey building, boasting that it is the “tallest building undertaken by Chinese contractors in overseas markets”.
Upon completion by 2H 2018, the skyscraper will have a height of 492.3m, making it one of the world’s 15 tallest buildings. It will also surpass the 451.9m tall Petronas Twin Towers, which is presently Malaysia’s tallest building.
Meanwhile, Johari refused to comment on the land transaction between Putrajaya and Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM). Under the deal, BNM purchased a 55.79-acre land adjacent to the central bank’s Sasana Kijang complex for RM2 billion or RM823 psf.
The site will be used as the new premises for the International Shari’ah Research Academy for Islamic Finance and Global Islamic Finance University (INCEIF).
“Bank Negara already made an announcement, what more you want to ask me? You check with Bank Negara’s announcement,” he said.
However, the central bank’s announcement did not divulge the specific location of the plot, except that it is near the new Asia School of Business complex and the Financial Industry Training Centre that is presently under construction. This led to speculation among experts that the land could be an extension of Lake Gardens in Kuala Lumpur.
Image sourced from TRX.
This article was edited by the editorial team of PropertyGuru. To contact them about this or other stories email editorialteam@propertyguru.com.my
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