Equine Capital disposes of PGCC developer Abad Naluri

 Accountability, Environment, Malaysian finance/business  3 Responses »
Oct 222008
 

The PGCC coffin has been lowered into its final resting place. Equine Capital has sold its 25 per cent stake in Abad Naluri, the developer of the aborted Penang Global City Centre project, to Kiara Ikhtisas Sdn Bhd for RM2 million. This comes a couple of weeks after Patrick Lim stepped down as chairman and executive director of Equine Capital (though he still controls about 28.9 per cent of Equine). Equine now appears to have come under new management, especially in its projects side.

This Kiara Ikhtisas sounds like an ‘interesting’ company – reportedly registered earlier this year with its shareholders being Zainudin Koming and Noraini Abdullah (see report below).

Remember, the Penang Turf Club land deals and the 1,000 acres Batu Kawan land agreement were entered into with Abad Naluri, not Equine Capital. This means Kiara Ikhtisas/Abad Naluri – along with the land deal vendors, Penang Turf Club and Penang Development Corporation (re the Batu Kawan land bank) – will now have to decide what to do with these deals. At any rate, Penangites will be watching very closely to see what happens now to these two plots of land.

This article from The Edge Daily:

21-10-2008: Equine sells Abad Naluri
by Jose Barrock

KUALA LUMPUR: Property developer Equine Capital Bhd has disposed of its 25% stake in Abad Naluri Sdn Bhd for RM2 million cash to privately held Kiara Ikhtisas Sdn Bhd.

Abad Naluri was the company given the mandate to develop the controversial RM20 billion Penang Global City Centre (PGCC) project, which was shelved when the ruling coalition Barisan Nasional lost Penang state.

Checks with the Companies Commission of Malaysia show that Kiara Ikhtisas was registered end-April this year with an authorised capital of RM500,000. Its directors are Mejar Jeneral (Rtd) Datuk Sulaiman Kudus, Mohamed Fadzil Mohamed Ariffin and Shahrin Osman.

The company’s shareholders are Zainudin Koming and Noraini Abdullah, who control the company equally.

Both the individuals are also shareholders in Gubahan Saujana Sdn Bhd which, together with LSG Asia GmbH and Fahim Capital Sdn Bhd, acquired LSG Sky Chefs-Brahim’s Sdn Bhd (formerly known as MAS Catering Sdn Bhd) for RM175 million in 2003. Gubahan Saujana is reported to have a 25-year concession to supply in-flight catering for the national flag-carrier.

The duo’s plans for Abad Naluri are not clear. Datuk Ibrahim Ahmad Badawi, the brother of Prime Minister Datuk Seri Abdullah Ahmad Badawi, was once a director of Gubahan Saujana.

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 Posted by Anil Netto at 1.05pm  Tagged with: , , ,

“Dead” PGCC needs post-mortem; and Batu Kawan?

 Accountability, Environment, People's Park/PGCC  15 Responses »
Sep 042008
 

The Penang Global City Centre project may be dead, but what I don’t understand is why there are no calls for a full-scale inquiry into this massive stinking deal.

The Chief Minister has said that the PGCC, in its original inception, is as good as dead. Notice the choice of words. Does that leave some wriggle-room for the state to consider new proposals from greedy developers or other interested parties on what was once recreational land?

Let’s see who benefits in the end from the PGCC land deals.

After Abad Naluri entered into an agreement in 2004 to buy the land at “recreational status” price, the previous state administration incredibly rezoned the land to new or mixed development, multiplying the land value several times over. This rezoning could land a potential profit of RM1.5 billion to Abad Naluri… RM1.5 billion! (Remember the Turf Club agreement with Abad Naluri has been extended from 2008 to 2011.)

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 Posted by Anil Netto at 1.13pm  Tagged with: ,

Penang Turf Club members sue committee over sale of land

 Accountability, Development issues, Malaysian finance/business  11 Responses »
May 242008
 

Two Penang Turf Club members, Tan Sri Tan Kok Ping and Dato’ Lee Ah Hoe, on behalf of the other members, are suing the Club’s 12-person committee for substantial damages over various issues pertaining to the sale of the Batu Gantong land.

The civil suit summons comes up to over 30 pages so I will spare you the detailed grievances.

Basically, they are arguing that the three agreements signed with Abad Naluri were not in the best interests of the Club and its members.

The three agreements are the:

  1. Preliminary Agreement dated 21 March 2003;
  2. Restructured Agreement dated 12 May 2004;
  3. Supplemental Agreement dated 1 April 2008.

In particular, they argue that the first two agreements had already lapsed and the Committee should not have entered into the Supplemental Agreement to try and revive the earlier agreements – especially when the value of the land had soared to RM2 billion following rezoning (compared to the agreed price of RM488 million).

They argue that the Committee had earlier failed to require Abad Naluri to pay a 10 per cent deposit as is the common practice in Malaysia. And they point out that the Preliminary Agreement was aimed at allowing Abad Naluri to proceed with the sale of the Batu Gantong Land even though the firm was not in any position to perform its obligations.

They contend that at the time the Supplemental Agreement was signed, the Committee should have known that Abad Naluri had not yet entered into any Sale and Purchase Agreement with the PDC for the purchase of the Batu Kawan land and therefore could not complete their part of the deal.

They point out that no diligent care was taken in ascertaining the exact nature, location, valuation and the precise details of the alienation of the Batu Kawan land.

The crux of their contention is that the Committee entered into various agreements that were “designed and calculated to benefit Abad Naluri in a phenomenal profit”. It was “a scheme put into place by the Committee Defendants in total disregard of the interest of the Plaintiff and the other members of the PTC”.

Update: The defendants named are Turf Club committee members Ong Eng Khuan, Robert Chan Woot Khoon, Dr Henry Ooi Kwee Lim, Oon Chong Kie, John Alexander Rodgers, Seow Chin, Tan Phaik Guan, Teh Choon Beng, and Ch’ng Chin Ghee as well as club consultant Muhammed Rizal Abdullah, club financial controller Tan Hock Lim and club assistant general manager and secretary Leow Khin Ming.

They are being sued for “damages equivalent to the difference between the value of the Batu Gantong Land as on the date of the Extraordinary General Meeting of 25 November 2002 and as on the date of execution of the Supplemental Agreement on 1 April 2008″ . That works out to some RM1.5 billion plus other damages.

Alternatively, they are being sued for aggravated and exemplary damages, interest, costs and other reliefs.

 Posted by Anil Netto at 3.01am  Tagged with: , , ,
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