Puncak Niaga may call off Selangor water deal if it’s not completed by Oct 15

PETALING JAYA: Puncak Niaga Holding Bhd (PNHB), which gave Pengurusan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd another one month’s extension to seal the RM1.55 billion water agreement yesterday, has again threatened to terminate the deal if it is not completed by Oct 15.
In a statement yesterday, PNHB executive chairman and managing director Tan Sri Rozali Ismail said the group “sincerely hoped” that the latest one-month extension will be the final one for the sale and purchase agreement (SPA) with Air Selangor and that the SPA be completed on or before Oct 15, 2015.
“In the event that there is a further extension of the SPA after Oct 15, the board of PNHB may then consider the possibility of terminating the SPA with Air Selangor and to seek various avenues available to protect its rights and its shareholders’ rights, including the right to seek legal recourse against Air Selangor,” he said.
The stop date for the water deal has been extended seven times to enable pending issues related to the water asset transfer between the state government and the federal government to be resolved.
The seventh extension for the stop date was due yesterday.
“To date, we understand that Air Selangor is still not able to fulfil the conditions precedent in the SPA and there is a need for a further extension (eighth extension) of the stop date before the proposed disposals can be completed to facilitate the consolidation/restructuring of the Selangor water industry to be managed by the state government of Selangor via its state-owned entity, Air Selangor,” Rozali said.
He had made a similar threat back in June, after receiving a request for a sixth extension.
This got the state and federal governments to finally agree on terms, which had been blocking the deal, which many expected to pave the way for the completion of the deal.
It is unclear what is delaying it now.