News of the Day - 05 May 2015

• IJM Corp board to meet to deliberate on buying 1MDB's power assets? 

Sources said that IJM's board is set to meet this week to deliberate on the proposed acquisition of 1MDB's power assets. The power assets are held under Edra Global Energy Bhd. Edra is at its final stage of resubmitting its IPO application. IJM is also expected to seek clearance from its institutional shareholders, including the EDF (11.8% stake), Amanah Raya (8.4% stake), and KWAP (5% stake). Both IJM and 1MDB's management declined to comment to Edge Weekly on this matter. 

Industry sources say that IJM may be looking for a partner than can lend a financial muscle for the acquisition. This could include government-linked funds. This is not the first time that IJM has reportedly shown interest in Edra Global. 

The Ministry of Finance (MOF) which wholly owns 1MDB, had, through its formerly appointed banker, identified several buyers, including IJM. IJM isn't the only party interested in Edra Global. It was reported that Edra had recently identified a consortium in the Middle East. 

• Malakoff Corp interested in acquiring new power generation projects? 

Malakoff Corp Bhd, which is scheduled to be re-listed on Bursa Malaysia, is believed to be interested in acquiring new power generation projects including the 2,000 MW project 3B that was awarded to 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB). According to sources, the independent power producer (IPP) is not merely interested in Project 3B but also any other Edra Global Energy Bhd's (1MDB's power arm) assets as long as the price is fair

• Main focus by MRCB’s new management was group's deleveraging exercise 

MRCB's MD Tan Sri Mohamad Salim Fateh and ED Imran Salim said the main focus from the start of MRCB's new management was the group's deleveraging exercise which took its gearing from a high of 1.8x two years ago to 1.5x, and could drop further to 1.2x from the completion of a REIT exercise for Platinum Sentral. MRCB has been actively acquiring land over the past 12 months. "We do not want to come to a point where suddenly we do not have any more land to develop." Tan Sri said. 

• 11th Malaysia Plan to be tabled in Parliament will focus on HR development 

The 11th Malaysia Plan to be tabled in Parliament will focus on human resources development, said Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak “We will emphasise on productivity-led growth. The future of this country, its rate of growth, must be based on improvements in productivity,” he said. Presently, only about a quarter of the country’s workforce are considered skilled workers, he said, adding that the percentage was at least 40% in developed countries.