The Star Online: Business
The Star Online: Business |
| Posted: 04 Jan 2013 05:57 PM PST AMID the volatile equities market in 2012, the corporate scene had its fair share of news headlines, with 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) emerging as the top acquirer as it made its foray into the power generation business. 1MDB's purchase of Tanjong Energy Holdings Sdn Bhd and Genting Bhd's power generation business for a total of RM10.8bil saw it vault to No. 1 spot on the mergers and acquisitions (M&A) list. The financial services sector saw several multi-billion-ringgit deals, while in the food business, there was the takeover of KFC Holdings (M) Bhd (KFCH) and QSR Brands Bhd. Loss-making national car manufacturer Proton Holdings Bhd hogged the headlines in January, following its takeover by DRB-Hicom Bhd. The financial services sector saw AIA Group Ltd's purchase of ING Malaysia; RHB Capital Bhd's acquisition of OSK Holdings Bhd's investment banking business and also AMMB Holdings Bhd's acquisition of Kurnia Insurans Malaysia Bhd. In the spotlight were EP Manufacturing Bhd (EPMB)'s proposed foray into tolled road operations with the proposed acquisition of Maju Expressway Sdn Bhd (MESB) and Ambang Sehati Sdn Bhd's takeover of Bandar Raya Developments Bhd (BRDB)'s property assets. 1MDB acquired the power assets of Tanjong Energy from tycoon T. Ananda Krishnan in March for RM8.5bil. It then went on to buy Genting's power business for RM2.3bil. In terms of the value of the deals, the acquisition of Tanjong Energy topped the list, with the Genting power purchase taking the fourth spot. The two acquisitions saw 1MDB emerging as the second-largest independent power producer (IPP) in the country after Malakoff Bhd. In second spot was AIA Group Ltd when it bought ING Malaysia for US$1.73bil (RM5.31bil) in a deal funded through internal cash resources and external debt financing. This saw AIA increasing its life insurance market share from 11.3% to 24.8%. In the third spot was KFCH and QSR's, following the disposal of their entire businesses and undertakings to Massive Equity Sdn Bhd in a deal that valued both companies close to RM5.2bil. Massive Equity was a special purpose vehicle set up to privatise KFCH and QSR. Johor Corp has a 51% stake in Massive Equity, while the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) and UK-based CVC Capital Partners hold the remaining 49% stake via Melati Asia Holdings Ltd. The takeover offer via MESB valued KFCH at a market capitalisation of RM3.17bil or RM4 a share and QSR at RM2.06bil (RM6.80 per share). At fifth spot is OSK Holdings Bhd's sale of its investment banking business to RHB Capital Bhd for RM1.99bil. The merger transformed RHB Investment Bank Bhd into Malaysia's largest investment bank by assets. In the shares and cash deal, RHB Capital acquired 100% of OSK Investment Bank shares from OSK Holdings for a purchase consideration of RM1.95bil. This was satisfied by RM1.803bil the form of 245 million new RHB Capital shares at RM7.36 per share, and RM147.5mil cash. RHB Capital also acquired 100% of OSK Investment Bank (Labuan) Ltd's shares as well as the remaining 20% in OSK Trustees Bhd, 20% in Malaysian Trustees Bhd and 59.95% in Finexasia.com Sdn Bhd for a cash consideration of RM39.3mil. The deals resulted in OSK Holdings emerging as RHB Capital's third-largest shareholder with a 10% stake. Taking sixth spot is EPMB's proposed acquisition of MESB and its business from Bright Focus Sdn Bhd, which is a part of Maju Holdings Sdn Bhd and Ulimas Sdn Bhd for RM1.15bil. The deal is still pending. The RM1.15bil would be satisfied by 38.46 million new EPMB shares at RM1.30 per share, RM100mil redeemable unsecured loan stocks and RM1bil cash. EPMB will also assume MESB's debts of RM550mil. The total acquisition value stands at RM1.7bil. The bulk of the borrowings will come from the issuance of new Islamic securities with a nominal value of RM1.35bil. In the insurance sector, AMMB emerged as the leading general insurer and market leader in motor insurance after its 51%-owned AmG Insurance Bhd bought Kurnia Insurans Malaysia Bhd for RM1.627bil. The purchase price was funded by AmG entirely with capital funds injected proportionately by its shareholders (AMMB and Insurance Australia Group Ltd). AMMB's contribution included internal cash resources and RM500mil of senior debt notes. In the property sector, Ambang Sehati, which held an 18.5% stake in BDRB, launched a second takeover for the remaining 81.5% equity interest. At an indicative price of RM2.90 per share and RM1.80 per warrant, this saw Ambang Sehati forking out RM1.17bil for the remaining stake. This was the second attempt after Ambang Sehati, which is controlled by chairman Datuk Mohamed Moiz Jabir Mohamed Ali Moiz, failed to acquire the selected assets of BDRB in September 2011. The first bid was at RM914mil, comprising of RM430mil in cash and RM484mil in net liabilities. Even so, AmInvestment Bank Bhd, the independent adviser for the second deal, deemed the offer of RM2.90 per share and RM1.80 per warrant as "not fair but reasonable", advising minority shareholders to accept the offer. DRB-Hicom's takeover of loss-making Proton Holdings Bhd put to rest months of speculation of the entry of a new shareholder to turn around the carmaker after several failed tie-ups with other carmakers. Khazanah Nasional Bhd divested its 42.72% Proton stake to DRB-Hicom for RM5.50 per share or RM1.291bil cash, triggering the mandatory takeover for the remaining Proton shares. Dijaya Corp Bhd was also in the limelight after its chief executive officer Tan Sri Danny Tan Chee Sing's injection of his private property assets into the company. Under the corporate exercise, Dijaya would acquire 73 properties comprising 49 parcels of lands and six buildings held by Tan for a total consideration of about RM943mil to be satisfied by RM250mil cash. In the news too was MISC Bhd when it sold its 50% equity interest in Gumusut-Kakap Semi-Floating Production System (L) Ltd (GKL) to E&P Venture Solutions Co Sdn Bhd, a unit of Petronas Carigali Sdn Bhd. The disposal consideration of US$305.7mil (RM934.4mil) was 50% of the total cost of MISC's equity investment in GKL as at Oct 4, which amounted to about US$611.4mil. Another notable M&A was France-based Carrefour SA's sale of its Malaysian business to Aeon Co for an enterprise value of 250 million euros (RM990.19mil). |
| Rahim: Build more affordable housing Posted: 04 Jan 2013 05:56 PM PST WHILE the overall property sector has stabilised last year, with further consolidation this year, Savills Rahim & co executive chairman Datuk Abdul Rahim Rahman says his main concern is the affordable housing sector. "Instead of 30% low cost housing allocation, a policy from the 1980s imposed on developers, let us do 20% low-cost housing and 10% in affordable housing, or 15/15 with medium cost housing priced between RM100,000 and RM400,000, and within 10km of the developer's development site. "This provision of medium cost housing must be imposed on developers," Rahim says. Rahim says as a result of government policies in the early 1980s, Malaysia now has more than one million of low cost houses which were built at a cost ranging between RM25,000 and RM42,000 depending on the state, as land is a state matter. But despite having built more than one milion low cost houses, the location and allocation of these houses has not been successful. There are some areas which have too many low-cost housing until there are no takers, while in other areas, there are not enough of them, says Rahim. Another issue is the location of some of these houses. A developer, says Rahim, may be developing in a high-end area but the location of its low-cost housing are located far away in a place which lack public amenities and transportation. Rahim says not only are low cost housing misplaced, but Malaysia's young working population are also displaced as a result of the steep rises the past couple of years. He says there are 3.5 million out of the country's 28 million population who earn between RM1,500 and RM5,000 a month. But the number of houses priced between RM100,000 and RM400,000 are only 2.3 million. "This means there is a shortage of more than one million units within this price range," he says. On a broader level, Rahim says assuming a household of about 4.3 per household, the country has more than 6.3 million households but the country only has 4.5 million of housing which he would defined as liveable and fit for habitation. This excludes squatters and houses with no proper access and no sewage systems and proper stairs. He says there are about one million housing which are not fit for habitation and the government need to allocate funds to make these housing fit for habitation. Most of these are in the rural areas. While making the one million houses fit for habitation, there is still a shortage of 1.8 million "habitable" houses," he says. But today's pricing has made affordability an issue, which the government and the private sector need to address, and speedily. "As for 2013, I expect the landed residential sector to continue to be stable, despite the cooling period in 2012," he says. "We desperately need more affordable housing," he says. The government has budgeted for RM1.9bil to build 123,000 affordable housing. |
| Posted: 04 Jan 2013 05:56 PM PST FOR the last few years, two issues have hogged the market affordability and the steep rise in prices in the landed residential sector, which subsequently spilled over to the high-rise condominium market in the Klang Valley and in other cities. There are a few exceptions. While affordability will continue to bog down the sector this year despite the easy credit environment, there seems no respite from the high prices of previous years, as prices remain stubbornly high. Notwithstanding that, there has been some semblance of sanity in 2012. Consultants polled concluded that the overall property market took a long-awaited and much-sought-after breather last year with "minimal price increases". Several developers say the pending general election has dampened the market somewhat. Generally, consultants and developers prefer "a slow and steady" rise in prices, as steep rises may mean steep falls. Property consultants say the market was "stable" in 2012, with active transactions in the second half. CBRE's executive Paul Khong expects this year to remain "relatively flat" while DTZ Nawawi Tie Leung Property DTZ's executive director Brian Koh says "prices have gone too far ahead of the curve for many potential upgraders, unless developers adjust their pricing to more realistic levels." Two factors are working against such a scenario. The first is land cost. Land prices have gone up a lot the last several years, says Fiabci (Malaysia chapter) president Yeoh Thit Sang. Higher land cost translates into higher prices. Generally, for high-rise high-end residential land cost ranges between 15% and 25% in Kuala Lumpur compared with 25% and 40% in Singapore, says Yeoh. "There has been a scramble for land by developers and many of them are buying land in Kajang and Rawang, some buy unconverted agricultural land, which means they will have to pay a premium to get it converted." Another challenge is the shortage of labour, a fact acknowleged by Bolton Bhd and the Sunway group. Most of the building and construction workers in Malaysia come from Indonesia. Foreign investments are flowing into Indonesia and this has created a healthy job market there, which means they can seek work at home instead of leaving their families, says Yeoh. "Our contractors are finding it tough to find skilled labour. We have successfully trained them and they now have a pool of skilled labour working in their own property sector," says Yeoh. This, he says, explains why the property players and the Government are considering using the Industrialised Building System (IBS) which requires a huge capital outlay. New launches versus established housing New launches are expected to do better than the secondary market chiefly because of "financial engineering" prevalent in the market in the form of Developers Interest Bearing Scheme and other freebies "given" by developers, which are actually factored in the price of the house. Jordan Lee & Jaafar Sdn Bhd managing director P. Tangga Peragasam says so long as "progress" is equated with development, income levels and trying to match (up to) the developed nations, "financial engineering" will continue. "We should instead be looking at conserving our resources, planning our developments properly and looking into issues like safety, comfort levels, transport, environment, pollution. instead of being so fixated on progress'," he says. Says PPC International Sdn Bhd managing director Siders Sittampalam: "We predict a slowdown in the mid to high-end segment of the market." With few exceptions, developers have, in 2012, reported that anything RM1mil and above have been challenging to sell. This is expected to spill over into this year. Notwithstanding this, BRDB's Serai have generated 60% sales last year. This, says marketing director K.C. Chong was due to its location, the BRDB branding and the super luxury and niche factor of Serai at between RM1,300 and RM1,500 per sq ft. This takes us then to the Kuala Lumpur City Centre (KLCC). In that location, some of the units are hovering more than the RM1,600 mark. The question that begs to be asked is, how is that Serai is able to generate sales while the units in and around KLCC are languishing? Serai offers units 4,000 sq ft and above. Sources say city-living attracts the younger generation who do not have the purchasing power to build a home in the KLCC area. The KLCC market is for the high network individuals who want city living and there are not many of those around. Generally, Malaysians who have that buying and earning power may opt for a location in Damansara Heights or Kenny Hills, which offer a more home and suburban feel. Another issue is the traffic congestion in the city, which can be a huge drawback. The likes of niche developments like Serai and KLCC condominiums aside, it is the masses and the 30 to 40-something that most developers are targeting today. The last couple of years, due to steep price hike, developers offered small one-bedroom units in the region of 500sq ft. Such units have limited audience comprising singles or two-somes. This segment of the market enjoys a huge investment market. A large segment of this market may enter the secondary market or be put up for rental. Jordan Lee & Jaafar Sdn Bhd's managing director P. Tangga Peragasam says rentals have not moved up with property prices, returns may be low when compared with prices. "This situation will continue to have some effect on the sector this year. If inflation sets in because of the low interest rates, then the effect could be different, especially if interest rates are forced upwards by inflation. Tangga says hotspots in the Klang Valley will continue to be Petaling Jaya and surrounding areas. Those areas coming within new proposed MRT stations will also see appreciation in values. |
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