Settle Aussie issue, Mara Inc told
> Chairman wants rationalisation plan for subsidiary’s property investments
KUALA LUMPUR: Mara chairman Tan Sri Annuar Musa ( pix) has ordered Mara Incorporated (Mara Inc) to work out a rationalisation plan to solve its property investment issues in Australia.
He said Mara Inc had taken short term loans of about four years from two Australian banks, and had sold a 12-storey office building in Melbourne to repay one of the loans.
The building was bought for A$21 million (RM69 million) and sold at A$23.4 million (RM77.05 million) and Mara Inc used the proceeds to settle the loan on one of three buildings it owned in Australia.
Mara Inc currently has a A$20 million eight-year loan from Maybank for its Australian properties.
Annuar said the sale of the property was done via open tender by Colliers International, a reputable asset management company, adding that the remaining three buildings were valued at A$80 million. He said revenue from the three assets were good, with one being rented by Melbourne University for its staff and the other two were tenanted by Malaysians and international students.
Mara needs its subsidiaries to generate profits as it gets about RM4 billion in funding from the government, while its operating budget is about RM5.2 billion. On the Dudley House purchase, Annuar said it was being investigated by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC).
He said Mara will not protect anyone and has asked MACC to investigate anyone no matter what the rank and take firm action if any wrongdoings were found.
“We have MACC officers stationed here at Mara to check on things on a daily basis but there will still be people who will try to find ways and means to beat the system,” Annuar said.