KUALA LUMPUR (June 13): Here is a brief recap of some business news and corporate announcements that made the headlines on Wednesday: 

Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (KL:AIRPORT), or MAHB, said it was notified on Wednesday that one of the four pre-conditions for the RM10.79 billion proposal to privatise the airports operator has been fulfilled. MAHB said the joint offerors in the takeover offer informed the group that the General Authority for Competition of Saudi Arabia (GAC) has issued a certificate on Tuesday, confirming that the deal does not require notification to the competition authority. Accordingly, MAHB said this pre-condition related to GAC has been fulfilled. The GAC certificate is one of the four pre-conditions required for the privatisation deal. The other approvals are required from Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom), Turkish Competition Authority and Egyptian Competition Authority. Last month, Khazanah Nasional Bhd, the Employees Provident Fund, New York-based Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) — via a consortium dubbed Gateway Development Alliance Sdn Bhd — announced a conditional voluntary offer to acquire all the remaining 1.12 billion shares in MAHB not already held by them at RM11 per share in cash. They also intend to delist MAHB. — MAHB clears one of four pre-conditions for privatisation deal

Johor Plantations Group Bhd's (KL:JPG) initial public offer (IPO) on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia is expected to raise a total of RM735 million, of which approximately RM345.2 million will be raised via an offer for sale of 411 million existing shares held by its sole shareholder Kulim (Malaysia) Bhd. Kulim, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Johor Corp (JCorp), will retain a 65% stake in JPG upon listing on July 9, while the IPO would offer investors up to 35% of JPG's enlarged share capital. Of the RM735 million raised from the IPO, approximately RM389.8 million will be raised via a public issue of 464 million new ordinary shares in JPG. The public issue portion of the IPO has been opened for public application on Wednesday and will be closed on June 24. — Johor Plantation's Main Market IPO to raise RM735 mil, RM345.2 mil to go to JCorp

Boustead Heavy Industries Corp Bhd (KL:BHIC) said it has secured a RM1.1 billion contract from the Ministry of Defence to provide in-service support 2 performance for the Royal Malaysian Navy’s prime minister class submarines. A formal contract between the government and BHIC's wholly owned subsidiary, BHIC Submarine Engineering Services Sdn Bhd, will be executed at a later date. The Armed Forces Fund Board (LTAT) owns 64.99% of BHIC via Boustead Holdings Bhd. LTAT fully owns Boustead following a privatisation exercise last year —  BHIC secures RM1.1 bil contract for navy submarine service support

Tycoon Tan Sri Desmond Lim Siew Choon has trimmed his stake in Malton Bhd (KL:MALTON), a day after the counter charted a new 30-month high. Lim sold 2.75% of his stake — comprising 14.5 million shares — held indirectly through Malton Corp Sdn Bhd, on the open market. The block of shares was sold in two tranches: 14 million shares on Monday (June 10) and 500,000 shares on Tuesday (June 11). A back-of-the-envelope calculation suggests that the total sale would amount to RM7.54 million, based on the closing prices of the two trading days. After the share sale, Lim holds a 4.3% direct stake and 36.62% indirect stake through Malton Corp — Desmond Lim trims Malton stake after share price rallied to 30-month high

Property developer YNH Property Bhd (KL:YNHPROP) has appointed UHY as a special independent reviewer to assess certain joint venture (JV) and turnkey contracts entered into by its unit, Kar Sin Bhd. The independent assessment was initiated after its former statutory auditor, Baker Tilly Monteiro Heng PLT, issued a qualified opinion on a sum totalling RM1.1 billion paid in respect of JV and turnkey contracts entered into between JV parties or landowners for property development work. YNH Property said UHY will start its work immediately, and will complete the assessment within three months. YNH was in the spotlight in May last year, after the group announced that Kar Sin was disposing of a piece of land measuring 5.09 acres (2.06ha) in Desa Sri Hartamas to Sunway Bhd’s (KL:SUNWAY) unit Sunway Living Space Sdn Bhd for RM170 million cash. — YNH Property appoints UHY for independent review of JV, turnkey contracts

Iqzan Holding Bhd (KL:IQZAN) has secured a construction project worth approximately RM143 million via its subsidiary, Kacon Construction Sdn Bhd (KCSB). The company said that the project entails the construction of a 24-storey office building on Jalan Tun HS Lee here — Iqzan Holding secures project worth RM143 mil

Ecoscience International Bhd (KL:EIB), an integrated palm oil milling services provider, has secured a RM61.8 million contract for the construction of a crude palm oil (CPO) pretreatment plant and a plant, machinery, and equipment (PME) plant in Port Dickson. Its wholly owned subsidiary Ecoscience Manufacturing & Engineering Sdn Bhd has accepted a letter of award from Oiltek Sdn Bhd to undertake the engineering, procurement, construction, and commissioning of civil and structural works for a CPO pretreatment plant and a PME plant, along with auxiliary buildings at the Port Dickson refinery — Ecoscience secures RM61.8 mil contract for palm oil plant construction

Petra Energy Bhd (KL:PENERGY) has secured a letter of award (LOA) from Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) in relation to the Banang Late Life Asset Production Sharing Contract for a 10-year period until June 2034. The LOA was given to its unit Petra Energy Development Sdn Bhd and that there was no fixed value stated in the letter of award. It said the duration of the contract is for the period of 10 years from June 1, 2024, until June 1, 2034. — Petra Energy gets LOA from Petronas for Banang Late Life Asset PSC