THE search for a suitable bumiputera investor for the hypermarket trade has not got easier over the years. If anything, it appears to be even tougher now, given the changing business and consumer trends.
It was difficult for a foreign hypermarket owner to find a bumiputera investor to take up a 30% stake in the enterprise given the huge sum needed. It is probably more challenging now, especially if the retailer’s growth has been pedestrian. In addition, investors currently have a wider selection of businesses that offer better returns.
Under Malaysia’s domestic rules, all foreign hypermarket retailers are required to sell 30% of their business to a bumiputera investor within three years of entry.
PERMODALAN Nasional Bhd (PNB) has disposed of the 21-storey Menara MIDF in Jalan Raja Chulan, Kuala Lumpur, to Singapore-based JD Hospitality Sdn Bhd. Sources say the deal, which took more than 18 months to complete from the time the building was first put up for sale, was done at RM140 million or RM875 psf.
The Edge has learnt that the new owner will retain the building as an office building but is likely to repurpose it as a hotel at a later stage. PNB’s wholly-owned subsidiary Malaysian Industrial Development Finance Bhd (MIDF), currently the sole tenant of the building, is scheduled to vacate the premises and relocate to Malaysia’s tallest tower PNB 118. Tenants are expected to begin moving into the building in the second half of 2022.
TWO commercial property deals worth nearly RM180 million have been transacted in the adjoining locations of Damansara Heights and Bukit Kiara in Kuala Lumpur, proving that there will always be a demand in prime locations despite a slow market.
Sources say Tan Sri Desmond Lim Siew Choon of Pavilion fame has bought Plaza Batai in Damansara Heights, while Datuk Vinod Shekar of Petra Group has purchased a sizeable office space at Senada at the TPC Golf & Country Club.
The Edge has learnt that Lim paid RM100 million to Selangor Properties Bhd (SPB) for Plaza Batai. When contacted for confirmation, SPB’s chief operating officer Chong Koon San declined to comment.