Gabungan AQRS ropes in S'pore firm to develop One Jesselton Waterfront

KUALA LUMPUR (July 20): Gabungan AQRS Bhd has inked a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Singapore's Tera Capital Pte Ltd to jointly develop its One Jesselton Waterfront mixed development in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.

Under the terms of the MoU, Gabungan AQRS will develop the hotel and serviced suites portion of the development according to the design concept provided by Tera Capital, it said in a filing to the stock exchange today.

Meanwhile, Tera Capital, a Singapore-based investment firm with offices in Beijing and Shanghai, will bring in a "partner-contractor" to form a joint venture (JV) with Gabungan AQRS's wholly-owned subsidiary, Gabungan Strategik Sdn Bhd, for the construction of the project.

"Upon completion, Tera Capital will provide full hotel management and operation services to the hotel and serviced suites. (It will) also appoint its related company to promote and market the respective residential apartment units in the project," the group said.

The MoU is valid for three months and follows the signing of a non-disclosure agreement between the two parties on March 21, Gabungan AQRS said.

It said the proposed JV is in line with Gabungan AQRS's long-term strategic plan to retain the One Jesselton Waterfront development as recurring income assets.

Apart from the hotel and serviced suites, the 6.28-acre development includes residential apartments, a retail shopping mall, office tower and ancillary services and facilities.

In December last year, the development's premier lifestyle mall was given a RM100 million loan from the Tourism Infrastructure Development Fund following the accreditation of the site as a tourism-orientated development by the Ministry of Tourism and Culture Malaysia.

Shares in Gabungan AQRS closed unchanged at RM1.40 apiece today, giving it a market capitalisation of RM547.29 million. — theedgemarkets.com

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