IWC up on renewed Bandar Malaysia talks

KUALA LUMPUR (July 18): Shares in Iskandar Waterfront City Bhd (IWC) jumped as much as 35 sen or 28.2% in early trading today to its intra-day high of RM1.59 on renewed rumours that it may be back in talks for the aborted Bandar Malaysia development deal.

Investors were buying in on speculation that the company may be once again involved in the project, Bloomberg reported, quoting chief investment officer at Phillip Capital Management Sdn Bhd, Ang Kok Heng.

The counter was the most actively traded stock on Bursa Malaysia after the noon break, with some 86.3 million shares traded as at 3.05pm. IWC shares pared earlier gains to trade at RM1.50, still up 26 sen from its opening price.

The company's share price took a beating when it was announced on May 3 that the sale of a 60% stake in Bandar Malaysia Sdn Bhd to IWC's holding company Iskandar Waterfront Holdings Sdn Bhd (IWH) and China Railway Engineering Corp (CREC) had been aborted.

The Dalian Wanda Group, which was reported to have expressed "desire" to participate in the Bandar Malaysia development, was recently said to be facing restrictions in funding for its offshore deals by the Chinese government.

IWC shares recently fell to a five-month low of RM1.19 per share after the date for a definitive agreement for its proposed merger with IWH was extended to Sept 4.

IWC said the extension is to enable IWH to negotiate in good faith and execute the definitive sales and purchase agreement(s) with the relevant vendor(s). — theedgemarkets.com

For more stories, download TheEdgeProperty.com pullout here for free.