Ekovest, IWH not proceeding with HOA on Bandar Malaysia investment

PETALING JAYA: Ekovest Bhd will not proceed with the execution of a heads of agreement (HOA) with Iskandar Waterfront Holdings Sdn Bhd (IWH) in relation to the proposed joint venture between IWH and Ekovest for investment in the Bandar Malaysia project.

The company said it was notified by IWH on Wednesday that the Restated and Amended Share Sale

Agreement (RASSA) executed between TRX City Sdn Bhd and IWH and China Railway Engineering Corp (M) Sdn Bhd (CREC) had lapsed.

“Consequence on the above, the company and IWH will no longer proceed with the HOA dated Dec 8, 2020 as it is now deemed null and void,” it said in a filing to the bourse.

Ekovest reportedly entered into an

HOA with IWH on Dec 8, 2020. The HOA entailed a proposed 40% share subscription by the group in a special purpose vehicle (SPV), which would be a wholly owned subsidiary of IWH, following IWH’s reorganisation. It also proposed to subscribe to new redeemable preference shares in IWC CREC Sdn Bhd (ICSB), a joint venture between IWH and CREC, to redeem 40% of the existing preference shares held by IWC in IWC-CREC.

Meanwhile, the RASSA for ICSB’s acquisition of a 60% share in Bandar Malaysia Sdn Bhd (BMSB) lapsed on May 6, 2021 since the conditions precedent in the agreement had not been fulfilled by the respective parties within the condition precedent period. The RASSA for the sale of the stake in BMSB to ICSB, a joint venture between IWH and CREC, was executed on Dec 17, 2019.

BMSB is wholly owned by TRX City Sdn Bhd, a 100% subsidiary of Ministry of Finance.

A joint statement by TRX City, IWH and CREC on Wednesday noted that they had not been able to mutually agree to the terms of the extension of the condition precedent period, thus, the agreement is now deemed null and void.