Selangor water assets saga – two down, two more to go

PETALING JAYA: With the completion of the acquisition of Puncak Niaga Holdings Bhd and Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Syabas), Konsortium Abbas Sdn Bhd and Syarikat Pengeluaran Air Selangor Holdings Bhd (Splash) will be the next under the limelight in Selangor’s water industry restructuring exercise.
In a filing with the stock exchange, Puncak Niaga said it received the purchase price balance of RM1.556 billion from Pengurusan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd yesterday.
“As such, the proposed disposals have been completed on even date. Accordingly, Puncak Niaga (M) Sdn Bhd and Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd shall cease to be a subsidiary and a joint venture company of Puncak Niaga group respectively with effect from Oct 15, 2015,” it noted.
With this, all eyes are now on the negotiations between the state government and the shareholders of the other two concessionaires.
Recall that Kumpulan Perangsang Selangor Bhd (KPS) agreed to sell its 30% stake in Splash and 90.83% stake in Abbas, but it still needs to get shareholders’ approval at an upcoming EGM for the disposals. It is not known whether Operasi Murni (M) Sdn Bhd, which owns the remaining 9.17% stake in Abbas, is agreeable to the deal. The offer price for Abbas is RM990 million.
However, Gamuda Bhd declined to sell its 40% stake in Splash as it will result in a divestment loss of RM920 million. Gamuda stressed that the price tag should be at least RM2.8 billion compared with the offer price of RM250.6 million.
Businessman Tan Sri Wan Azmi Wan Hamzah-owned The Sweet Water Alliance Sdn Bhd, which controls the remaining 30% stake in Splash, rejected the offer before, but it is not known whether he has changed his mind since.