EPF buys stake in Malaysian expressway

As part of the deal, EPF has signed share sale and purchase agreement (SSPA) with Taliwork Corp. subsidiary Pinggiran Muhibbah to acquire a 100% stake in Pinggiran Ventures. This entity in turn owns 49% of joint venture Pinggiran Infrastructure, which has as its seed asset a 65% stake in Cerah Sama.

Completed in 1998, the 11.5-kilometer Cheras-Kajang toll highway is among the first four-lane dual carriageways in Malaysia, extending from Cheras to Saujana Impian in Kajang.

In 1995, the government awarded a 30-year concession to Grand Saga - a unit of Cerah Sama - to upgrade and maintain the highway, on a build, operate and transfer (BOT) basis. The concession started in September 1995 and was intended to last until 2025, but it was subsequently extended to 2045.

Once the SSPA is completed, Pinggiran Muhibbah will own a 51% stake in Pinggiran Infrastructure and EPF will indirectly own the 49% balance. Proceeds from the deal will be used to expand Pinggiran Infrastructure.

"The board believes that Pinggiran Infrastructure will be the new growth engine for Taliworks," said Taliworks in a statement. "Moving forward, Pinggiran Infrastructure will be targeting acquisitions of operating infrastructure assets with predictable cashflows."

For the quarter ended June 2014, Taliworks recorded a net profit of MYR12.69 million, a 32.2% year-on-year increase, while revenue rose nearly 4% to MYR81.8 million.

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• Topics
• Infrastructure
• Infrastructure
• Southeast Asia
• Malaysia
• EPF
• Infrastructure
• Joint Venture
• Growth capital