Nusa Gapurna plans medical centre in RM11bil PJ Sentral project

KUALA LUMPUR: Nusa Gapurna Development Sdn Bhd is in talks with a few parties, including the Pantai group and KPJ Healthcare Bhd, to set up a medical facility in Phase Two of its flagship RM11bil PJ Sentral project.
Sources familiar with the matter told StarBiz
that among the proposals being considered was a specialised children's
hospital with KPJ and/or a medical centre with Pantai, a unit of IHH Healthcare Bhd.
The
source also said Nusa Gapurna was looking at a real estate investment
trust (REIT) option for the last of its six office towers, which form
part of PJ Sentral's first phase.
Two towers were recently sold to Malaysia Building Society Bhd (MBSB) and the Intellectual Property Corp of Malaysia (MyIPO), while a long-term lease has been signed with Celcom Axiata Bhd for the third block.
It
is understood that Nusa Gapurna is negotiating en bloc sales or
long-term leases for the remaining two towers, with a target to wrap up
discussions in about three months.
“Nusa Gapurna will hold on to the final tower until its merger with Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd (MRCB)
is complete. The board of MRCB will decide after that whether to sell
it,” the source said, adding that the building could be sold to a REIT
once it yielded 7% in rental income.
Nusa Gapurna had sold
offices in PJ Sentral to MBSB for RM239.2mil and MyIPO for RM250mil,
creating a new benchmark price of RM850 per sq ft. Celcom will rent one
of the towers on a 21-year lease for RM300mil.
MRCB had proposed in February to buy out private developer Nusa Gapurna, which is 60% owned by low-key businessman Datuk Mohamad Salim Fateh Din and 40% by the Employees Provident Fund, in a deal valued at RM729mil for shares and cash.
Under
the agreement, Nusa Gapurna will receive RM111mil in cash and 398.7
million shares in MRCB at an issue price of RM1.55 each, with 113.9
million free warrants on the basis of two free warrants for every seven
MRCB shares.
The merger was meant to be a shot in the arm for MRCB, whose KL Sentral transport hub is nearing completion.
If
shareholders approve the acquisition at an EGM in June, MRCB would
obtain four parcels of prime land in the Klang Valley worth RM459mil,
including PJ Sentral, and more crucially, a boost to its potential gross
development value.
The deal also puts Salim and his son, 31-year-old Imran Salim, at the helm of MRCB, which has been without a head since Datuk Mohamed Razeek Md Hussain Maricar left in August last year for DRB-Hicom Bhd.
The
16.19ha PJ Sentral will see an initial investment of RM5.2bil, with
construction slated to begin in the second or third quarter of this
year.
The development along the Federal Highway, touted to revive
Section 52 of PJ as the city's new central business district, will
feature a mix of offices, hotel, residences, retail, public parks and
even a lake.