Ekovest gets more time to consider IWH-CREC stake buy

Ekovest Bhd has been given more time to think through its plan to acquire a 40% stake in IWH-CREC Sdn Bhd, reported The Edge.

This comes after the group has mutually agreed with Iskandar Waterfront Holdings Sdn Bhd (IWH) for a 30-market day extension, which starts from 22 October till 3 December, for Ekovest to “deliberate and consider as well as to enable the parties to finalise the relevant agreements”.

IWH-CREC is a joint venture (JV) between IWH and China Railway Engineering Corp (M) Sdn Bhd (CREC). IWH holds a 60% stake, while the latter owns the remaining 40%.

The JV, on the other hand, holds a 60% stake in the Bandar Malaysia project, while the Ministry of Finance holds the remaining 40%.

Ekovest announced in September that it was commencing exclusive negotiations to acquire a 40% stake in IWH-CREC that is held by IWH.

This means IWH-CREC will have three shareholders should the proposal goes through, namely CREC (40%), Ekovest (40%) and IWH (20%).

Read about Bandar Malaysia here.

Ekovest and IWH have a common shareholder – Tan Sri Lim Kang Hoo – who owns a 32.4% stake in Ekovest and 63% stake in IWH.

Lim had previously said that the 40% stake in the JV would cost around RM1.5 billion.

In December 2019, IWH-CREC had signed a restated and amended share sale agreement with TRX City Sdn Bhd to acquire a 60% equity interest within Bandar Malaysia’s master developer, Bandar Malaysia Sdn Bhd, for RM7.41 billion.

The multi-billion ringgit project was initially set to start in March, but was delayed because of the Covid-19 pandemic. Lim said that the project is now slated to commence in early 2021.

 

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