Report: IWH’s listing might be delayed to 2H2021

KUALA LUMPUR (March 27): Plans to list Iskandar Waterfront Holdings Sdn Bhd (IWH) is now “scheduled for the second half of this year, instead of the first half as planned,” a source told The Edge Malaysia in a report this week.

“Work is in progress for IWH’s listing. The first half is not possible; they are aiming for the second half,” said the source.

Some analysts have told the weekly that they “are not too optimistic about the listing of IWH”.

“I think IWH has postponed the listing because it is difficult to get interest for any property listing right now,” said one of them.

“The recent aborted land deal between IWH and Ekovest Bhd, in a related-party transaction, raises concerns that it may weigh on the former’s ability to fetch a higher value for its landbank of more than 4,000 acres in Johor’s Iskandar Malaysia, which has been plagued by the property glut,” wrote The Edge in its report.

IWH was planning to raise at least RM5 billion from the proposed initial public offering. Both IWH and Ekovest are controlled by tycoon Tan Sri Lim Kang Hoo (pictured), who has stakes of 63% and 32.4% respectively.

Another analyst is of the view that “when a listing takes place depends on the value of IWH’s assets”, with “key factors” being pricing, demand and location.

“The population density is low in Johor. If there is no demand, how can they sell the land?” she asked.

Another analyst agrees with her view saying “it may not be able to fetch good value for its land”.

“Yes, the market condition is better than six months ago, but you still can’t maximise your value.

“While IWH can sell land and go into a JV with other developers, we have to see what kind of partners they are going to bring in. And there is the turnaround time — how fast they can enter into a JV or sell and monetise the land,” said the analyst.

The Edge explained that “unlike traditional property developers, IWH is not directly involved in property development but sells land to developers and co-invests with them in joint ventures”.

As for the land deal between IWH and Ekovest that was called off, one of the analysts feels that “it has less to do with the outlook for Iskandar Malaysia”.

“I don’t think it was due to the location of the land in Iskandar Malaysia. It is more of an internal issue in terms of the restructuring of all companies controlled by Lim.”

Last Monday, Ekovest scrapped a proposed acquisition of 96.28 acres of freehold land in Pulai, Johor, from IWH for RM1.11 billion, with both parties being unable to reach an agreement on the transaction.

Read the full report in this week’s The Edge Malaysia

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