Daily Digest · Tuesday, 8 September 2026· Updated: about 12 hours ago
Whitmore's advisers split on takeover offers for MKH and its plantation unit; Penang moves to auction land to help fund Ayer Itam bypass
Kenanga urged MKH shareholders to accept Whitmore Holdings' RM2 per share offer despite assessing it as not fair, while a separate adviser told MKH Oil Palm minority shareholders to reject their parallel offer. Penang, meanwhile, is preparing to auction a Tanjung Pinang parcel to help fund completion of the Ayer Itam bypass.
Quick takes
- Sime Darby Property Bhd unveiled Prestige Collection 1, comprising 5,040 sq ft ready-built semi-detached factories at its 988-acre BBR Business Park in Bandar Bukit Raja. The developer also previewed Quadria II, comprising four-storey semi-detached and detached shop offices in Bandar Bukit Raja 2.
- CBH Engineering Holding Bhd secured an RM88.05 million contract to build a 275kV consumer landing station for a Selangor data centre. It is the group’s second data centre-linked job in under two weeks, bringing the two contracts to RM147.66 million.
- Vestland Bhd secured a RM263.73 million contract for flood mitigation works along Sungai Golok in Kelantan, lifting its 2026 contract wins to RM1.1 billion. The project runs until April 2028, while the construction group’s outstanding order book now stands at RM1.5 billion.
- KPKT urged prospective homebuyers to verify developers and projects through its TEDUH portal before purchasing. The portal provides information on developer licences, advertising and sales permits, project progress and delayed, sick or abandoned developments. TEDUH has recorded over 45 million visits since 2017.
Kenanga urges MKH shareholders to accept Whitmore's RM2 offer, while separate adviser tells MKH Oil Palm holders to reject theirs
Kenanga Investment Bank Bhd recommended that MKH Bhd shareholders accept Whitmore Holdings Sdn Bhd's mandatory takeover offer of RM2 cash per share, according to the independent advice circular disclosed in a Bursa Malaysia filing on Monday.
Kenanga assessed the offer as not fair, estimating MKH's value at RM4.31 per share using a sum-of-parts method across the group's property development, plantation and hotel businesses. It nevertheless assessed the offer as reasonable, citing MKH's historical share illiquidity, the absence of an alternative offer and premiums of up to 76.99% over the last traded price before the takeover was announced. MKH's non-interested directors concurred and recommended acceptance. According to the offer document, Whitmore, a wholly owned subsidiary of Batu Kawan Bhd, and parties acting in concert held 58.5% of MKH's issued shares as at Sept 1. Batu Kawan intends to privatise MKH if the combined holding reaches 90% or more. Should the holding rise above 75% without reaching that level, it will work with MKH to restore the public shareholding spread within six months. The offer closes at 5pm on Sept 17. Separately, MainStreet Advisers Sdn Bhd recommended that minority shareholders of MKH Oil Palm (East Kalimantan) Bhd, MKH's listed plantation unit, reject Whitmore's 66.26 sen per share offer.
MainStreet assessed the offer as not fair and not reasonable, saying the price was 59.74 sen below the unit's revised net realisable asset value of RM1.26 per share as at June 30. It also noted that Whitmore and Batu Kawan intend to maintain MKH Oil Palm's listing, allowing shareholders who do not accept the offer to continue trading their shares on Bursa Malaysia. The unit's non-interested directors concurred with the recommendation. The offer also closes at 5pm on Sept 17.
Why it matters
The bidder received contrasting advice across the group: MKH's offer was assessed as not fair but reasonable, while the offer for its listed plantation unit was assessed as neither fair nor reasonable. For MKH, Kenanga's assessment turned on liquidity and the absence of an alternative offer; for MKH Oil Palm, continued listing reduced the urgency for minorities to accept a price that MainStreet said was below revised net realisable asset value.
Penang to auction six-acre Tanjung Pinang site to help fund Ayer Itam bypass
Penang will auction a six-acre freehold parcel next to Gurney Bay and Andaman Island on Oct 7 to help fund completion of the Ayer Itam–Tun Dr Lim Chong Eu Highway bypass, state infrastructure, transport and digital executive councillor Zairil Khir Johari said.
The plot, P.T. 858 (Plot 7A), Section 2, Bandar Tanjung Pinang, carries a reserve price of RM313.632 million, or RM1,200 per sq ft. Prospective bidders must submit a bank draft deposit equal to 1% of the reserve price, or about RM3.14 million, before 11am on the auction day. One Asia Property Consultants (PG) Sdn Bhd is the appointed auction agent. The toll-free, six-kilometre dual carriageway was 92.46% complete by physical progress as at Aug 31, while financial progress was 81.69%. The project is funded through a land-swap arrangement, under which land is transferred to Consortium Zenith Construction Sdn Bhd against completed-work claims rather than through direct cash payments.
Consortium Zenith had claimed RM696 million in completed works, with RM427.657 million settled through transferred land and RM225.768 million in claimed land value yet to be transferred. The bypass is targeted for completion in April 2027.
Why it matters
The auction illustrates the funding risk inherent in a land-swap infrastructure model: work can approach completion while the monetisation of land entitlements and contractor cash flow lag. The sale is therefore not merely a land disposal; it forms part of the mechanism intended to support completion of the bypass.
Selangor makes water and power readiness an approval condition for data-centre projects
Selangor will not approve data-centre projects without adequate water and electricity supply, Menteri Besar Amirudin Shari said after witnessing the vacant-possession handover for the first phase of NCT Smart Industrial Park (NSIP) in Sepang.
He said every data-centre application must obtain approval from the Federal Data Centre Task Force, with electricity requirements cleared by Tenaga Nasional Bhd and water requirements cleared by Pengurusan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd. Amirudin was commenting on NCT Alliance Bhd's proposed sale of a 100-acre NSIP parcel to an unnamed global data-centre operator for a development that could support up to 800MW of capacity.
He said the Rasau Water Supply Scheme is expected to add 350 million litres a day of capacity in its first phase, rising to 700 million litres a day upon completion of Phase 1. The state is also encouraging data-centre operators to adopt water-recycling technologies.
Why it matters
Selangor is making utility readiness an explicit approval condition for data-centre projects. For developers, land availability and a proposed transaction are only part of the equation: the ability to obtain water and power clearances will determine whether a site can become operational data-centre capacity.
Also on the radar today
SC exempts SLSB, eight individuals from mandatory offer for KSL shares
The Securities Commission Malaysia exempted Success Lineage Sdn Bhd (SLSB) and eight members of the Ku family from making a mandatory offer for KSL Holdings Bhd after they transferred their interests in three corporate shareholders to SLSB as part of establishing a single family office. The restructuring does not involve a transfer of KSL shares held by the three companies, which remain registered in their respective names.
Pekat bags three subcontracts worth RM57m
Pekat Group Bhd’s subsidiary has secured three subcontracts worth RM57.18 million for earthing and lightning protection works in Johor Bahru. The contracts cover design, supply, installation, testing and commissioning, with completion scheduled between February and September 2027. Pekat expects the works to contribute positively to FY2026 earnings.
Plytec discloses financing plan for Kuala Langat land purchase
Plytec Holding Bhd applied for banking facilities of up to RM7.52 million to partly fund its proposed RM6.21 million purchase of a 4.83-acre agricultural site in Kuala Langat, Selangor, and the estimated land-conversion premium. The application remained pending and no letter of offer had been issued.
No private land taken yet for RM6.25b Ipoh Sentral, Perak MB says
No land belonging to individual owners has been acquired for the Ipoh Sentral development, which uses only land already approved for use by the Railway Assets Corporation and is expected to create between 8,000 and 9,000 construction jobs over a 20-year horizon.
Today's roundup
Takeover offers, infrastructure funding and data-centre capacity lead today’s agenda, alongside fresh industrial and construction activity. Sime Darby Property unveiled new factories at BBR Business Park, while CBH Engineering, Vestland and Pekat announced contract wins. Homebuyer safeguards, corporate restructuring, land financing and the RM6.25 billion Ipoh Sentral development round out the day.
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