Tang Yong Chew, majority shareholder of Kuala Lumpur International Dental Centre told Nanyang Siang Pau on Thursday that there had been an agreement to sell the shares of the company, which bought the land from the state government for RM11.6 million in 2012.

He admitted that a share sale agreement had been made, but the deal did not go through, according to Malaysiakini quoting Nanyang Siang Pau.

According to the report, he said a US group had wanted to invest in a medical centre planned for the Taman Manggis land, and the share-sale agreement was done so that a new joint-venture company would be formed to seek financing for the project.

On Monday, Barisan Nasional spokesman Abdul Rahman Dahlan had revealed copies of an agreement by which KLIDC was to be sold for RM70.6 million last year. Rahman said the sale of the company, which owns the Taman Manggis land, was equivalent to selling the land for a projected profit of RM59 million while the land remained undeveloped.

However, Tang said plans did not proceed smoothly and the joint-venture eventually fizzled out. The Taman Manggis land was still wholly-owned by KLIDC, he was reported to have said.

Controversy over the Penang statement government’s sale of the Taman Manggis land to KLIDC arose after it was revealed that Penang chief minister Lim Guan Eng had bought a double-storey bungalow for RM2.8 million from a woman later revealed to be a business partner of the KLIDC owner.

The woman, Phang Li Koon, was formerly his employee and was now a business partner, Tang said, according to the report. They had known each other for 20 years, and they have an outsourcing company with Phang in charge of operations in Penang, according to the report.

The Barisan Nasional has accused Lim of buying the bungalow at below market value. The state government was also accused of selling the Taman Manggis land for below value.

Tang said KLIDC did not inform the Penang government of its plans, as no final decision had been taken, the report said. He denied that KLIDC had bought the land from the state at below market price. Before the sale, a valuer had estimated the value at between RM180-RM200 per square foot. The state government had set the price at RM200psf and KLIDC won a tender by offering RM232psf, he said according to the report.

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