1MDB seeks investors for Bandar Malaysia project

PETALING JAYA: 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) is seeking equity investors for its 495-acre Bandar Malaysia project and will launch a request for proposal (RFP) in the next two weeks.
1MDB president and group executive director Arul Kanda Kandasamy said launch of the RFP for its subsidiary Bandar Malaysia Sdn Bhd comes on the heels of the rationalisation plan presented to Cabinet on May 29.
"Having generated considerable local and global interest, the objective of this RFP process is to select qualified equity investors to partner in the overall development," its president and group executive director Arul Kanda said in a statement last Friday.
"Prior to the formal launch of the RFP process, which will be independently managed by CH Williams Talhar & Wong, we request suitably qualified equity investors to register their interest by entering into a confidentiality agreement with 1MDB in order to facilitate the sharing of preliminary information," he added.
Bandar Malaysia, which is 3kms away from the Tun Razak Exchange (TRX) project, is a mixed-use urban development that is aimed to serve as a catalyst for the Greater Kuala Lumpur.
Previously the sovereign wealth fund said the project is the urban redevelopment of the old airport in Sungai Besi, which is designed to support Greater Kuala Lumpur as a new engine of growth.
The development will serve as Kuala Lumpur's gateway for the high speed rail-line to Singapore and become a central transport hub in the city via MRT lines 2 and 3, KTM commuter, ERL and future access to 12 major highways.
To relocate existing facilities on the site, 1MDB is currently responsible for the delivery of eight new police and military bases being constructed across Malaysia.
1MDB said it is contributing RM1.6 billion towards these relocation costs, out of a total RM2.7 billion construction contract.
"We are pleased to update that construction of these new bases is on track for handover by Jan 1, 2017, due to the excellent progress by our contractor Perbadanan Perwira Hartanah Malaysia, a 100% subsidiary of Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera (LTAT)," Arul said.