Artist's impression of the proposed Asia Pacific Trade and Expo City
PETALING JAYA: It was all quiet on the central front for property-based Malaysian Pacific Corp Bhd (MP Corp) due to a delay in the sale of its Wisma MPL in Kuala Lumpur.
The delay was due to its strategy for a partial sale with a view for joint development of a tower block rather than an outright sale of the entire property.
Such a joint venture was in the best interest of the company and its shareholders, as management worked towards obtaining a better price and terms, the company said in its latest results announcement.
There is, in addition, a southern front in the group’s development strategy. It has about 500 acres of freehold land near Pasir Gudang in Johor that is master-planned for its proposed LakeHill Resort township.
That may sound like just another township but one of its components is the proposed Asia Pacific Trade and Expo City (Aptec). This will be developed as a wholesale trade and distribution hub, with proposed participation from merchants and manufacturers from China, India and other countries in Asean.
The Federal Government is understood to be interested in supporting and participating in the LakeHill project. Hence, one of its agencies is expected to sign for a stake in the project next week.
With the Government as a partner, development of the whole project, including Aptec, should be facilitated.
The concept for Aptec is that products from the region will be brought to one location for the convenience of buyers instead of them having to fly to each country to view the products.
In addition, the whole project is within the Iskandar Malaysia area in Johor which the Government is keen to develop. MP Corp is applying for Iskandar development region status for the LakeHill project so that companies operating there will qualify for tax incentives.
Industry sources said it was also planned that a foreign party, expected to be China-based, would take a stake in the LakeHill project.
Equity participation by both the Government and, in particular, the Chinese party, was envisaged to erase or reduce the bulk of the bank borrowings of the MP Corp group.
The group had borrowings of RM178mil against an investment property valued at RM225mil and land held for development of RM139mil. The group’s shareholders funds totalled over RM200mil at end-March.
Finance costs amounted to RM11.4mil in the nine months to March 31, 2008, and the group is working towards the right direction to reduce or eliminate that.
MP Corp is led by Datuk Bill Ch’ng, an architect who became a developer and businessman many years ago.
By The Star
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