Mah Sing aborts deal to purchase land near lake

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 20): Mah Sing Group Bhd has terminated the proposed deal to buy five parcels of adjoining freehold land, with a total net land area measuring approximately 3.56 acres (1.44ha) fronting Titiwangsa Lake.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia yesterday, Mah Sing announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary Mah Sing Properties Sdn Bhd (MSPSB) terminated the sale and purchase agreement (SPA) dated May 17 due to “non-fulfilment of the conditions precedent (CP) within the CP period”.

The total purchase consideration of the land was up to RM60 million.

This is the fourth proposed land purchase that the property developer has rescinded since 2014.

However, Mah Sing has also completed two land acquisitions this year so far, one in Bukit Mertajam, Penang and the other in Sentul, Kuala Lumpur after it started the shopping spree for land.

The group temporarily halted its land bank expansion after it had completed the purchase of a tract in Plentong, Johor and Seksyen U19, Petaling Jaya in 2014.

Furthermore, Mah Sing is buying prime land in Cheras for RM82.13 million.

In yesterday’s announcement to the stock exchange, Mah Sing said the group still has 34 ongoing projects which are spread out across various stages of the development cycle.

According to Mah Sing, upon the termination, the vendor Saw Shiuo Shyong @ Sonny Saw shall refund the deposit of RM6 million to MSPSB, of which RM4.8 million had already been received and the balance RM1.2 million is to be refunded by the vendor’s solicitors, together with interest earned thereon, within seven days from the date of receipt of the termination notice.

To recap, based on preliminary plans, the residential condominium fronting the 234.75-acre Titiwangsa Lake Garden to be built on the land was slated for affordable transit-
oriented lakeside condominiums.

Mah Sing’s plan was to have the units, with built-up from 850 sq ft and indicatively priced from RM485,000, aimed to cater for first-time homebuyers, working professionals, young families and home upgraders seeking to live in the vicinity of the Kuala Lumpur City Centre within close proximity to the Golden Triangle and public transportation.

Shares in Mah Sing closed one sen higher at a one-year high of RM1.57 yesterday, after 1.67 million shares were traded, giving it a market capitalisation of RM3.8 billion.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on Oct 20, 2017.

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