Bolton wants to buy over smaller developers

KUALA LUMPUR: Bolton Bhd is looking to acquire smaller unlisted property developers in the Klang Valley which are facing problems with funding their projects due to the higher costs of construction.

Executive chairman Datuk Azman Yahya said the company was currently negotiating with several parties.

Datuk Azman Yahya

“We’re in talks with several unlisted property companies with a view to acquiring them and we’re also open to entering joint ventures with private equity funds for development,” he told reporters after the company AGM yesterday.

Azman said these companies had land that they might not be able to develop due to their inability to raise funds or were burdened by higher construction costs.

Bolton was not looking at specific-sized parcels of land but the value of the land might be over RM100mil, he said, adding that the company was looking at acquiring land in Penang where it recently unveiled the RM190mil Surin, a two-block 28-storey freehold luxury condominium project.

“We’re allocating RM100mil in the next 12 months for more land acquisition in Penang,” he said.

The company plans to launch RM3bil worth of projects over the next 24 months. Azman said over 70% of these projects were high-end developments.

“We expect the current financial year (ending March 31, 2009) to be better than the last one both in terms of revenue and profit despite the slowdown in the property market. This is due to our strong product offerings,” he said.

On another note, Azman said the company was still looking to divest non-core assets, such as its construction arm as well as several property investments, with a total value of RM150mil.

He said the properties that the company wanted to sell included the RM55mil Campbell Complex located in downtown Kuala Lumpur and the Langkawi Fair valued at RM45mil to RM50mil.

“We had a buyer for Campbell Complex but the sale did not go through.

“Now we have another potential buyer who is doing the due diligence,” Azman said.

For Budget 2009, property developers were hoping for a reduction in stamp duty as well as the liberalisation of the bumiputra quota, he said.

“We hope the state governments would be more aggressive in releasing the bumiputra units into the market because the holding costs is high.”

For the financial year ended March 31, the company posted a net profit of RM46.7mil on revenue of RM299.3mil.

By The Star