SDB, GMA Group seal RM110m bulk purchase deal

PETALING JAYA: Selangor Dredging Bhd (SDB) has sealed a RM110 million investment partnership agreement with GMA Group, an enterprise specialising in wealth management through property marketing and risk management.

Under the agreement, GMA Group will invest in 100 units of Signature Suites at The Hub in SS2 in Petaling Jaya. This is about 36% of the Signature Suites at the development.

This is so far the biggest transaction between the developer and any investor since it entered the property development business in 2004.

According to Desmond Tan, SDB head of sales and marketing, the company has sold all the Signature Suites units. It said it has confidence in GMA’s clientele database and is happy to be in partnership with the latter.

He said although the company has shied away from bulk investments, SDB has worked with GMA before and found that they share similar visions. Tan believes that this will not be the last time it will be working with GMA.

“We hope to keep about 20 units. The rest of the units will be released to our client database at between RM900 psf and RM1000 psf,” said GMA Group managing director CK Lim, declining to reveal its potential profit margins.

He said GMA is confident of selling all the units in The Hub and the group sees great potential in The Hub as an investment opportunity. “It will be one of the tallest buildings in Petaling Jaya upon completion, making it a landmark. Its central location and access to various highways make it a strategic property,” said Lim.

GMA Group intends to make The Hub its business centre in the future, with plans to move in together with a group of business owners that it regularly works with.

GMA Group was established in 2003. Its past successfully marketed property projects include The Cova at Kota Damansara (developed by Pharma Excel Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of the Andaman Group), Camellia serviced suites at Bangsar South (developed by UOA Development Bhd) and Kiara 163 at Mont’Kiara (developed by Ireka Corp Bhd).

The Hub, launched in June this year, comprises 276 units of Signature Suites and 13 retail blocks. The development, which has a gross development value (GDV) of RM337 million, is due for completion in early 2017.

SDB targets to launch two new projects in 2014.

Sqwhere, in Sungai Buloh, Selangor, which has a GDV of RM500 million, is scheduled to be launched in the second quarter next year at RM750 psf to RM800 psf. Also to be launched in the second quarter is the 8.82-acre (3.57ha) Jia @ Melawati, Kuala Lumpur, which has a GDV of RM132 million. The project comprises 79 units of 2½- and 3-storey superlinks.


This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on December 20, 2013.