I-Bhd sees tie-up with Thailand's Central Pattana for mall in i-City

BANGKOK: I-Bhd, the master developer of i-City, plans to seal a definitive joint development agreement with Thailand's retail developer, Central Pattana Public Company Ltd (CPN), within two months to develop a mall within its flagship i-City Cybercentre in Shah Alam.
Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Datuk Eu Hong Chew
said the mall, at a gross development cost of RM500 million and covers
1.7 million sq ft, is slated to start construction early next year and
complete by end-2015.
He told the media after the signing ceremony for the memorandum of understanding agreement between I-Bhd's unit, I-City Properties Sdn Bhd
and CPN here on Wednesday for the purpose of working towards forming a
joint venture through a special purpose vehicle (SPV) to develop the
mall.
"The mall will be developed through the SPV, in which
I-Bhd holds 40 per cent stake while the balance of 60 per cent will
owned by CPN," he said.
He stated that CPN was chosen for the
tie-up due to its expertise and experience as the group is now
operating 20 malls in Thailand including Central World, which is
reputedly the largest mall in Southeast Asia at 5.9 million sq ft.
"We
are proud that CPN has chosen i-City to be its first foreign
joint-venture in mall development," he said, adding that CPN is one of
the foreign companies that has a joint venture with them to develop the
urban cybercentre township.
He said the company is currently looking for a partner to develop a data centre at i-City.
Elaborating
on the mall, Eu said it would be located within a 7.27-hectare plot in
i-City and would complete the RM5 billion Cybercentre's offering as an
international business by day and lifestyle haven by night.
"Currently, we have already invested about RM250 million in the i-City Cybercentre project, " he added.
Besides
the mall, I-Bhd has also developed other properties such as a hotel,
office tower, serviced apartments, and small office home office
including a water theme park which will open in November this year.
Meanwhile, CPN CEO Kobchai Chirathivat
said the company is very keen to establish its name in Malaysia as the
country offers huge opportunities for foreign companies to invest.
"We
see Malaysia as the best place to start our business outside Thailand
as the country provides consistent foreign investment policy. Also,
Malaysia is at the forefront of developing countries among the other
Asean countries " he said.
He added Malaysia is a good country
to invest in as its average capital income is six per cent higher than
Thailand, while its purchasing power is two times higher than its
northern neighbour. - Bernama