Ekovest up 5.56% after news of Wanda abandoning bid for Bandar Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR (July 26): Ekovest Bhd shares rose by as much as 5.56% today on news that its related group may get a second chance to bid for the Bandar Malaysia project after China's Dalian Wanda Group was reported to be no longer interested in the project.

At 3.51pm, the stock rose four sen or 3.7% at RM1.12 after pairing earlier gains with some 13.7 million shares traded. The group's market capitalisation was about RM2.4 billion

Meanwhile, Iskandar Waterfront City Bhd (IWCity) shares were up one sen or 0.75% at RM1.34 with 13.3 million shares changing hands.

IWCity'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 IWCity's holding company Iskandar Waterfront Holdings Sdn Bhd (IWH) and China Railway Engineering Corp had been aborted.

Ekovest shares meanwhile plunged from RM1.46 on May 2 to as low as RM1.01 in mid-July.

IWH, which owns a 60% equity interest in the joint venture, is the flagship of property tycoon Tan Sri Lim Kang Hoo, who also controls a 32% stake in Ekovest.

It was reported that Dalian Wanda Group, the troubled Chinese property-to-entertainment giant, has abandoned its bid for the property portion of the Kuala Lumpur-Singapore high-speed rail project, the biggest of its kind in Malaysia, only three months after being considered a front runner. — theedgemarkets.com

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