Equine/Malton ... Nov 2008

Datuk Desmond Lim Siew Choon, the owner of property development firm Malton Bhd has denied the speculation that it has acquired an interest in Abad Naluri Sdn Bhd – the company that was to develop the PGCC.

Lim says neither he nor Malton is involved in PGCC project nor do they have any link to Kiara Ikhtisas Sdn Bhd – the company that acquired a 25% stake in Abad Naluri recently.

Although the Rm25 billion PGCC project has been shelved by the MPP, interest in Abad Naluri appears to be still there.

Property developer Equine on Oct 21, 2008 disposed of its 25% stake in Abad Naluri for RM2 million cash to privately held Kiara Ikhtisas. Kiara Ikhtisas’s directors include Tan Sri Zainol Mahmood (with a 50% stake), who is also the chairman of Urusharta Cemerlang Sdn Bhd – the developer of Pavilion KL. The development manager of Pavilion KL was Malton’s once wholly owned subsidiary KL Pavilion Sdn Bhd (KLP).

Malton entered a share sale agreement with Gematunas Sdn Bhd to dispose of its entire equity interest in KLP for RM2.54 million on Oct 13, 2008. Gematunas is a privately owned company that was incorporated in March 2008.

So now (Oct 2008) that Abad Naluri’s jewel in the crown project has been halted, what exactly is the reason for the company’s attractions? Could Abad Naluri’s appeal to the MPPP to review the rejection of its proposed development plans have something to do with it?

Another part of the Abad Naluri story is tied up with a parcel of land in Batu Kawan which it is reported to have bought from the PTC for Rm488 million in 2002. The purchase price was said to be satisfied by Abad Naluri undertaking to build a RM375 million equestrian centre there for the turf club to be relocated. The rest was to be paid by cash.

Now (Oct 2008), with the PGCC project has been halted, industry observers believe the land deal between Abad Naluri and PTC would not go through. They say the land occupied by the present racecourse would be transferred to the developers only when the equestrian centre was completed and handed over to the PTC.

Latest information shows that Abad Naluri accrued RM2.7 million in revenue and Rm4.6 million in net profit for FY2007 ended March 2008. It has Rm1.2 million worth of fixed assets, RM38.6 million of current assets and RM534 million of assets as at March 31, 2008. Its current liabilities stood at rm569 million.