Sunway eyes joint procurement after IJM takeover, says president

KUALA LUMPUR (April 3): Sunway Bhd (KL:SUNWAY) plans to implement joint procurement in construction as part of its short-term strategy within nine months of acquiring IJM Corporation Bhd (KL:IJM).

Its president, Datuk Mohd Anuar Taib, said IJM will continue operating as usual within the nine-month period while the group explores collaboration opportunities in the construction sector.

“We must deliver the contracts they have, and we must also deliver ours, but we can start to look at things like joint procurement because we can buy things together.

“Their (IJM's) strength is in civil construction. We might go and bid for the Mass Rapid Transit (MRT) or the Penang Light Rail Transit (LRT) on that side, and then we do a data centre on the Sunway side,” he told Bernama after appearing as a guest on The Nation programme produced by Bernama TV.

He said that in the long term, the group believes the entities should be merged to remain integrated.

“We will put our people on the board because we do need different stewards. Then, we will run an integration team headed by me, and we will look at people on both sides.

“We will look at how the organisations can be merged, and I believe they have about 3,600 people, while we have 20,000 people, and I don't think anyone would actually lose their jobs,” he added.

Mohd Anuar also said that the group would subsequently evaluate its approach to property development.

“One thing about us, I don't think we have ever sold land. We buy and take a 20-, 30-, or 40-year view to develop it, so I am not in a rush.

“If we join, we are not in a rush to go and let go of any of the land. We take time to evaluate and then come up with a different plan,” he said.

Recently, it was reported that 99.27% of Sunway’s shareholders voted in favour of proceeding with the takeover bid.

The group said its offer price of RM3.15 per share is the best on the table and that it would walk away if IJM’s shareholders chose not to accept it.

Sunway's offer will remain open for acceptance until 5pm on April 6.

The proposed conditional voluntary takeover to acquire all ordinary shares in IJM will be satisfied by 10% in cash and 90% in Sunway shares.

To date, Permodalan Nasional Bhd, the second-largest shareholder, and the Employees Provident Fund, IJM's largest shareholder, have rejected the offer.

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