Bandar Raya Dev may go down privatisation route

By BUSINESS TIMES

PROPERTY developer Bandar Raya Developments Bhd (BRDB), which is planning a billion-ringgit real estate investment trust (REIT) in three years, may be taken private, sources say.

“There is a lot of value in the company and its shareholders may consider a privatisation plan to unlock potential value,” said a source.

BRDB operates two key businesses property development and manufacturing.

Its manufacturing arm, Mieco Chipboard Bhd, makes and trades chipboards and related products in 20 markets worldwide.

The group is renowned for creating some of Malaysia’s most sought-after assets.

By 2009, it will have more than one million sq ft of Grade A commercial space in Kuala Lumpur, which will be worth in excess of RM1 billion.

Its current projects include the CapSquare integrated development, One Merenung luxury condominiums in Bangsar, extension of Bangsar Shopping Centre (BSC) – all in Kuala Lumpur – and a township development in Pakistan.

Chief executive officer Datuk Jaganath Sabapathy said last week that the estimated gross development value (GDV) for its CapSquare project would be around RM2 billion.

He also said that the group’s two new condominium projects in Bangsar, which will be launched next year, will generate a GDV of RM1.2 billion.

“There are a lot of talks going around on what BRDB is planning to do next. The board has a lot of plans on the table and privatisation may just be one of them,” the source told Business Times.

The source, however, ruled out any plans for the company to list overseas.

If the privatisation works out, BRDB could just be one of 17 companies recently taken private, as a result of which some RM46.29 billion was wiped out from Bursa Malaysia’s market value in the first half of the year.