1MDB chief Arul Kanda Kandasamy said this in light of the announcement that 60 per cent of its stake in Bandar Malaysia Sdn Bhd (BMSB) was sold to a consortium comprising of the CREC and Johor-based Iskandar Waterfront Holdings (IWH), for RM7.41 billion.
“If you look at the new ownership, IWF is 60 per cent of the consortium. When you add (the percentages), you will see the eventual ownership is 76 per cent Malaysian, and 24 per cent CREC.
“The ownership is 54 per cent federal and state (Johor) government. The rest is with the private sectors. It’s a win-win partnership, with it being owned in majority by Malaysia,” said Arul at a press conference after the Bandar Malaysia signing ceremony in the Royale Chulan Hotel here today.
IWF, the master developer of the Flagship A portion of the Iskandar Malaysia Economic Growth Corridor, is a public-private partnership between Credence Resources Sdn Bhd who owns 60 per cent of the land sold, and the Johor state government-owned Kumpulan Prasarana Rakyat Johor Sdn Bhd who holds the remaining 40 per cent.
The deal is also a major achievement for the controversial state-owned investment firm as through it, 1MDB has successfully achieved the target of its rationalisation plan within the time frame promised by Prime Minister Najib Razak.
According to Arul, there were three steps involved in 1MDB’s rationalisation plan, namely the debt settlement agreement with International Petroleum Investment Co (IPIC), which he said would see a debt reduction of RM16 billion.
Second, was the sale of Edra Global Energy Bhd to China General Nuclear Power Corporation (CGN). With this, 1MDB’s debt will be reduced by RM18 billion.
The third was achieved with the sale of the Bandar Malaysia stake.
“We have achieved what we set out to achieve, in terms of the rationalisation plan.”
However, when asked if the remainder 40 per cent would be transferred to the Finance Ministry, Arul said no decision has yet been made although it was currently under discussion.