Tadmax completes sale of land to 1MDB unit

KUALA LUMPUR: Tadmax Resources Bhd has completed the disposal of a parcel of land in Pulau Indah, Selangor to 1Malaysia Development Bhd’s (1MDB) unit Ivory Merge Sdn Bhd for RM294.38 million.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia yesterday, Tadmax said that pursuant to the terms of the agreements, the company had secured the requisite approval for land partitioning, and had secured the issuance of the separate document title of the land on June 26.

“The parties have mutually agreed that the proposed disposal is duly completed on June 30 2015,” said Tadmax in the announcement.

Tadmax added that the payment of the balance of the purchase consideration will be effected upon Ivory Merge completing the necessary verification of the land, final accounts and completion documents, expected latest by the end of July this year.

To recap, the 154ha land was sold by Tadmax to Ivory Merge, a wholly-owned subsidiary of 1MDB, for RM294.38 million, a 7.2% discount to the original RM317.33 million that was initially agreed upon.

 The lower transaction price is because the land is now sold on an “as is where is basis” meaning the buyer will be responsible for the coversion of the usage of the land.

In a recent statement, Tadmax had clarified that the valuation of its Pulau Indah land for sale to 1MDB was not subject to the approval of the property valuation department of the Securities Commission Malaysia.

Tadmax’s share price gained 0.5 sen yesterday to 31 sen with a market capitalisation of RM137.88 million.

1MDB president and group executive director Arul Kanda Kandasamy was reported as saying that the investment fund plans to appoint a real estate consultant to evaluate proposals relating to the company’s intention to monetise both its Air Itam and Pulau Indah tracts, either through joint ventures or outright sales.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on July 02, 2015.