Nusa Gapurna looks to tempt MRCB with prime land package

July 28, 2012

Mohamad Salim will gain 20 per cent equity in MRCB if the deal goes through. — File picKUALA LUMPUR, July 28 ― Property giant Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd (MRCB) is in talks to acquire private developer Nusa Gapurna Development Sdn Bhd run by well-connected Datuk Mohamad Salim Fateh Din that will give it 60 acres of prime land worth up to RM13 billion in the crowded Klang Valley, a financial weekly reported today.

The share-swap deal would see Mohamad Salim gaining a direct 20 per cent stake in MRCB and a lead role in the management of the merged entity, The Edge Business and Financial Weekly reported, following MRCB chief executive Datuk Mohamed Razeek Hussain Maricar’s recent announcement that he will be resigning from his position.

“Gapurna is in the midst of preparing a proposal for consideration by the MRCB board. However, the valuations for the deal have not been finalised and the parties are looking at the possibilities. It is still at a preliminary stage,” a Nusa Gapurna executive was quoted telling the paper.

“Based on ballpark figures being tossed about, the swap will give Salim and his partners just under 20 per cent of MRCB,” the paper reported another executive close to the deal as saying.

Mohd Imran, Mohamad Salim’s son, is rumoured to be in line to become MRCB CEO.Mohamad Salim’s son, Mohd Imran, 30, has been speculated to replace Mohamed Razeek as MRCB CEO when the latter steps down on August 13 but a Nusa Gapurna official has dismissed such talk.

“Mohd Imran heads his own company, which is involved in CCTV,” the unnamed official was quoted by the paper as saying. He also told the paper that Mohd Imran was not on Nusa Gapurna’s board.

MRCB is 42 per cent owned by the Employees Provident Fund (EPF). The state pension fund also holds a 40 per cent share in Nusa Gapurna, with Mohamad Salim, a former airline attendant-turned-businessman, holding the controlling 60 per cent in the property development company.

But the paper cited government officials, real estate executives familiar with the negotiations and analysts saying the takeover will be done in the next few months before the end of the year.

The proposal will see MRCB take over the little-known Nusa Gapurna’s development projects spread across 60 acres of valuable commercial real estate in Petaling Jaya (PJ), Old Klang Road and Subang Jaya, estimated to be worth between RM11 billion and RM13 billion.

Nusa Gapurna had recently won a contract to redevelop a 40-acre parcel in Section 52, Petaling Jaya and revamp it into the satellite city’s financial hub. Construction there is slated to start early next year.

It also owns 17 acres  in Taman Seputeh, a leafy upper middle-class suburb in the national capital and 3.5 acres next to popular mall Subang Parade in the densely-populated Subang Jaya neighbourhood.

MRCB has been reported to be among the frontrunners to develop precious tracts of 1,214 hectares of Sungai Buloh land.