I-Bhd may seal deal with CapitaLand in early 2009

IT-ADVANCED: The RM500 million mall, to be part of i-City, will be comparable to the Mid Valley Megamall.

I-BHD, developer of the i-City project in Shah Alam, may sign a definitive partnership agreement with Singapore's CapitaLand for a RM500 million shopping complex early next year.

The project, which forms part of i-City, is expected to be ready as scheduled by the end of 2011.

"We are still in discussion with one foreign party, but there has been no firm conclusion yet," I-Bhd's deputy chief executive officer Lim Boon Siong said when contacted by Business Times.


LIM: The parties are still fine-tuning details

Lim, who had earlier been quoted as stating that an agreement will be reached in the third quarter of 2008, said that the parties are still fine-tuning details.

Although he declined to say who its foreign joint-venture partner is, CapitaLand Ltd on October 23 informed the Singapore stock exchange that it was in talks with I-Bhd.
Lim expects that the earliest possible time that a deal is likely to be sealed would be early next year.

I-Bhd hopes to form a 70:30 joint venture, with a foreign institution holding the majority, to build an international-class shopping complex.

Once the joint venture is set up, I-Bhd will sell the land to the joint-venture partner. The mall will then be developed together, while its partner will manage the shopping complex.

The mall, with one million sq ft of gross lettable area, would be comparable to the Mid Valley Megamall in Kuala Lumpur.

i-City is creating an entire new community which is IT-advanced. As such, a mall is required.

The mall will cater to about 30,000 office population within i-City and 50,000 when the entire project is completed in 2012.

CapitaLand's interest in Malaysian shopping centres include Sungei Wang Plaza in Kuala Lumpur, Gurney Plaza in Penang and Mines Shopping Fair in Seri Kembangan, Selangor.

By Business Times (by Vasantha Ganesan)