MRCB mega project on drawing board

By Sharen Kaur (Published in NST, Nov 12 2009)

Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd (MRCB) (1651) plans to undertake its biggest development project ever in the Klang Valley by as early as next year.


The planned project is expected to dwarf MRCB's flagship Kuala Lumpur Sentral (KL Sentral) transport hub in Brickfields.

Group managing director Shahril Ridza Ridzuan said MRCB will use part of the RM566 million raised from a rights issue to buy land for the development.

"We are planning the next big thing after KL Sentral. It would be something more exciting and bigger than any of our existing projects," Shahril said.

KL Sentral is due to complete by 2015/2016.

"We are looking at a few plots of land. Depending on the land size and location, we will decide on the best development to do," Shahril said in an interview with Business Times in Kuala Lumpur recently.

He said the group is also buying land for new commercial and residential projects in 2010.

MRCB, which has RM7 billion worth of construction jobs in hand, has proposed to offer up to 483 million new shares at an issue price of RM1.172 each.

The fund-raising exercise is targeted for completion in the first quarter of next year.

MRCB will use some of the proceeds to fund the RM800 million

Nu Mall project at KL Sentral and expand its environmental engineering and infrastructure business.

For infrastructure development, Shahril said MRCB will bid for the RM7 billion Klang Valley Light Rail Transit (LRT) extension project.

He said tenders for pre-qualification will be out soon.

"We will bid for the project either as a whole package, or in smaller packages. It would depend on what the government wants," Shahril said.

MRCB is also trying to build up its asset portfolio.

It now manages three office towers at KL Sentral and one in Shah Alam. By 2011, it would manage four new towers at KL Sentral, currently under construction.

Shahril ruled out injecting the properties into a real estate investment trust (REIT).

"We are already doing a similar structure and concept as a REIT. We are managing properties for investors for a management fee. We like what we are doing and would build on that," he said.