Berjaya Land, IJM, MRCB and KTMB join forces to bid for KL-Singapore HSR job

• The consortium led by BRail submitted the request for information (RFI) concept proposal for the project shortly before the submission deadline, according to sources. The deadline for submission of the concept proposals covering the technicalities, project costs, commercial model and consortium structure was Jan 15.

KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 25): Berjaya Land Bhd’s (BLand) 70%-owned subsidiary Berjaya Rail Sdn Bhd (BRail) has teamed up with IJM Corp Bhd's unit IJM Construction Sdn Bhd, Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd (MRCB) and national railway company Keretapi Tanah Melayu Bhd (KTMB) to bid for the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore high-speed rail (HSR) project.

The consortium led by BRail submitted the request for information (RFI) concept proposal for the project shortly before the submission deadline, according to sources. The deadline for submission of the concept proposals covering the technicalities, project costs, commercial model and consortium structure was Jan 15.

Sources told The Edge that the BRail-led consortium is confident about winning the project due to the experience of its members.

Other technical members of the consortium include Japan’s Hitachi Rail STS, which specialises in providing signalling systems, Hyundai Rotem Co, a South Korean company that manufactures rolling stock, and German rail operator Deutsche Bahn AG’s unit DB Engineering & Consulting GmbH.

Another reason why the consortium is confident of striking the deal is that the proposed project will be a private finance initiative (PFI), which means it would be fully funded by investment by the private sector, sources said.

In a Jan 15 statement, MyHSR Corp Sdn Bhd chairman Datuk Seri Fauzi Abdul Rahman had said seven local and international consortia — comprising 31 firms — had submitted the RFI concept proposals for the KL-Singapore HSR project. MyHSR, a company owned by the Minister of Finance Inc and under the supervision of the transport ministry, is responsible for the development and implementation of the project.

“The findings from the RFI evaluation will be presented to the Ministry of Transport and the Cabinet for deliberation. If the response is positive, we will move on to the second phase with the request for proposal (RFP) stage to obtain detailed proposals from the selected consortia," he had said in the statement.

The project will be based on a public-private partnership initiative on the design-finance-build-operate-transfer model.

It was earlier reported that YTL Corp is another group that had submitted its concept proposal for the KL-Singapore HSR project to MyHSR. Analysts believe that YTL Corp could be a front-runner given that the group was the original HSR promoter in 2008-2009 and in 2018, it was appointed project delivery partner for HSR’s southern section.

In December last year, Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim was reported as saying that the Malaysian government has principally agreed to revive the KL-Singapore HSR project if it could substantially lower the cost and had mentioned the matter to his Singapore counterpart Lee Hsien Loong. The project, with an initial estimation of RM72 billion, did not take off as both countries failed to reach a consensus before the project agreement expired on Dec 31, 2020.

BRail chairperson Tunku Tun Aminah Sultan Ibrahim Ismail, the daughter of the Sultan of Johor, holds the remaining 30% stake in BRail. Tun Aminah also sits on the board of Berjaya Corp Bhd, Berjaya Assets Bhd, Berjaya Capital Bhd, Berjaya Hartanah Bhd, Bukit Kiara Resort Bhd and REDtone Digital Bhd.

Shares of BLand closed up 0.5 sen or 1.35% at 37.5 sen on Wednesday, giving it a market capitalisation of RM1.88 billion. The stock has risen 19% since Jan 18, and 39% over the past one year.

IJM Corp share price closed unchanged at RM2.37 on Wednesday, valuing the group at RM7.95 billion. The stock has risen 16.6% so far this year and 38% over the past one year. On Jan 17, Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd announced that a consortium consisting of ALSTOM Transport Systems (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, IJM Construction and Pestech Technology Sdn Bhd will be completing the aerotrain replacement project that was halted in August last year.

Shares of MRCB have risen 29% so far this year, closing 4.5 sen or 8.41% higher at 58 sen on Wednesday, giving it a market capitalisation of RM2.57 billion. The counter has risen 81% over the past one year.

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