Turiya Properties to buy vacant Wisma Sentral Inai for RM135 mil, funded by chairman’s cash injection

• Turiya, in a filing with Bursa Malaysia, said it is buying the 31-year-old office building from Sentral Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) (KL:SENTRAL) to boost revenue, quickly attract tenants, and diversify income away from its semiconductor business.

KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 15): Turiya Bhd’s (KL:TURIYA) unit plans to acquire the 12-storey Wisma Sentral Inai in Kuala Lumpur for RM135 million through a cash injection from its executive chairman, Datuk Seri  Shamir Kumar Nandy.

Turiya, in a filing with Bursa Malaysia, said it is buying the 31-year-old office building from Sentral Real Estate Investment Trust (REIT) (KL:SENTRAL) to boost revenue, quickly attract tenants, and diversify income away from its semiconductor business.

The company said to fund the purchase, Turiya Properties Sdn Bhd has secured a conditional subscription agreement with Shamir, who will inject RM135 million by subscribing to 135 million redeemable preference shares at RM1 each. This shareholder cash injection serves as interim funding while the group finalises longer-term financing options.

Wisma Sentral Inai, which has been vacant since July 2022, is generally in good condition, according to Turiya. However, Turiya plans to spend RM3.5–RM4 million on repairs within six months of acquisition, funded through internal funds and/or borrowings. As of March 31, 2025, the group held about RM7.5 million in cash.

Turiya intends to finance the acquisition with a combination of bank loans and internal funds, but securing full bank financing before completion may take time due to ongoing negotiations and paperwork. The subscription by Shamir bridges this funding gap, allowing the deal to proceed, it said in the filing.

Following the acquisition, Turiya will explore more stable, long-term financing options such as term loans, internally generated funds, or new securities issuance, with plans to progressively redeem the temporary preference shares.

The deal requires Turiya’s shareholders approval. The acquisition is conditional on the cash injection by Shamir and is expected to complete in the fourth quarter of 2025.

Doctor-turned-businessman Tan Sri Mohan MK Swami and Shamir took over a 58% stake in Turiya from MAA Group Bhd (KL:MAA) in April 2024.

In a separate filing, Sentral said the sale of the office building provides it with financial flexibility to invest in higher-yield assets or reduce debt, with net proceeds to be used for new commercial investments within 12 months or debt repayment if no suitable assets are found.

Sentral’s gearing is expected to improve, dropping from 44.58% to 41.93% if RM132 million of the proceeds is used to repay borrowings.

The REIT manager said it was the best offer after negotiations and expects a RM4 million net loss from the sale. The property had a carrying value of RM150 million as of December 2024 on Sentral REIT’s books.

Turyia’s share price closed unchanged at 28.5 sen on Friday, giving it a market capitalisation of RM65.19 million. Meanwhile, Sentral’s share price closed up 0.6% at 80.5 sen, valuing the company at RM962.4 million.

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