MoF Inc to jointly develop TRX Tower with the Mulia Group

KUALA LUMPUR: The Minister of Finance Inc (MoF Inc) has confirmed that it has agreed with The Mulia Group to jointly develop the Exchange 106 Tower at TRX (TRX Tower).
In a statement today, it said the construction of the tower was expected to be completed by the second half of 2018.
The MoF Inc, via its wholly-owned unit, MKD Signature Sdn Bhd, took over 51% of the shareholding in Mulia Property Development Sdn Bhd in July 2017. Mulia Property, a company incorporated in Malaysia, has a paid-up share capital of RM500,000 and it is jointly owned by The Mulia Group (49%) and MKD (51%) .
MoF Inc said the cost of the development of the TRX Tower would be borne by the two shareholders based on their respective proportions of shareholding in the joint-venture (JV) based on the original cost of the development.
MKD has made arrangement with the HSBC Bank for a standby line to finance its proportional construction cost of 51% without any added premium by the JV company, it said.
In May 2015, Mulia Property bought the 1.37 ha for RM665 million from TRX City Sdn Bhd.
The sale of the TRX land to Mulia was done on commercial terms with no discount accorded to Mulia.
MoF Inc said its participation in the development of the TRX Tower was agreed at the onset to only materialise when the project has reached certain development milestone.
"The strategic location of the TRX Tower and the iconic nature of the development gave strong impetus for the MoF Inc to participate in the development and management of the tower.
"With the entire TRX development area expecting to command a gross development value of RM40 billion, it is therefore vital for the MoF Inc to ensure that it secures another strategic position in the progress and success of TRX development," it said.
The TRX Tower would have a net lettable area of 2.8 million square feet, it said.
Upon its completion, it said, the tower would be one of Malaysia's three iconic structures, following the Petronas Twin Towers and Permodalan Nasional Berhad's Merdeka 118.
"The TRX Tower is also set to be the 15th tallest building in the world by the time of completion.
"Of significance, this is not the only strategic partnership by the MoF Inc in TRX development area," it said.
The MoF Inc said it had, in fact, entered into a partnership with Lendlease (Australia) to develop the Lifestyle Quarter, a 6.8 ha mixed-use development area within the TRX with an equity structure of 60% owned by Lendlease and MoF Inc owning the remaining the 40%. The completion of the TRX Tower would serve as the catalyst for the development and construction of the surrounding commercial plots within the TRX, it said.
It said reputable organisations – HSBC, Prudential Insurance, Affin Bank Berhad, Tabung Haji, Landlease (Australia) – had already committed to take up commercial plots within the TRX and negotiations are underway for other international organisations to participate as well.
"The TRX Tower will be the crowning success for the Tun Razak Exchange's synergistic role in positioning Malaysia's growing prominence in the world of global finance," it added. — Bernama