WCE seeks up to RM400m govt financing for RM5b West Coast Expressway project

• Built at a cost of RM5.044 billion, it will be the country's third longest highway, after the 966km North-South Expressway and 330km East Coast Highway.

KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 11): West Coast Expressway Sdn Bhd (WCESB), an 80%-owned subsidiary of WCE Holdings Bhd, is seeking up to RM400 million from the government to part-finance the land acquisition cost for the RM5.044 billion West Coast Expressway project.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia on Tuesday (Oct 11), WCE said WCESB had on Oct 7 entered into a reimbursable land cost (RLC) agreement with the Finance Ministry for the financing of up to RM400 million to part-finance the land acquisition cost for the expressway.

“The company will provide a shareholders’ undertaking to WCESB in respect of the RLC financing to ensure the successful completion of the project and, among others, a debenture incorporating fixed and floating charge over all present and future assets of WCESB,” it added.

WCE is building the 233km tolled West Coast Expressway from Banting, Selangor, to Taiping, Perak. IJM Corp Bhd has a 28.81% stake in WCE. The expressway is being built on a build-operate-transfer basis, with a concession period of up to 60 years.

Built at a cost of RM5.044 billion, it will be the country's third longest highway, after the 966km North-South Expressway and 330km East Coast Highway. The development of the new coastal highway, which began construction in 2014, also runs parallel to the PLUS Expressways Bhd-operated North-South Expressway.

The entire new coast highway, which has 21 interchanges — 11 in Perak, with the rest in Selangor — commences at a junction with Selangor State Road B18, which runs from Banting and ends at the ramp of Changkat Jering toll plaza of the North-South Expressway at Taiping.