KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 28): Construction and property developer conglomerate IJM Corp Bhd (KL:IJM) on Thursday confirmed that it has submitted a proposal for Permodalan Nasional Bhd’s (PNB) highway assets.
“We were invited and we participated in the RFP (request for proposal). But there’s no decision yet,” IJM group chief executive officer and managing director Datuk Lee Chun Fai said at a press conference after the group’s annual general meeting.
Lee did not provide further details, including when the RFP was called, its scope or the expected timeline for a decision.
Last month, The Edge Malaysia weekly reported, citing sources, that IJM and AFA Prime Bhd — the concessionaire of the Kuala Lumpur-Karak Expressway and East Coast Expressway Phase 1 — are among the parties vying for PNB’s highway portfolio.
PNB is reportedly exploring the disposal of its toll road assets under Projek Lintasan Kota Holdings Sdn Bhd (Prolintas), which owns the Sungai Besi-Ulu Kelang Elevated Expressway (SUKE) and Damansara-Shah Alam Elevated Expressway (DASH), as well as a 51% stake in Prolintas Infra Business Trust (KL:PLINTAS).
IJM currently owns Besraya (M) Sdn Bhd, the concessionaire of the Sungai Besi Expressway, New Pantai Expressway Sdn Bhd (NPE) and Lebuhraya Kajang-Seremban Sdn Bhd, and has a 28.12% stake in WCE Holdings Bhd (KL:WCEHB).
On Wednesday, IJM, in which the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) owns an 18.23% stake, announced that it had secured a supplemental concession agreement from the Ministry of Works to undertake RM1.4 billion worth of new construction works for a 15km fully elevated extension of the NPE.
While the group did not initially disclose the revised tenure, Works Minister Datuk Seri Alexander Nanta Linggi later clarified in a Facebook post that the concession has been extended by 27 years to 2057, from the original expiry in 2030.
Construction of the NPE2 extension is scheduled to commence in the fourth quarter of 2025 and is targeted for completion within 48 months. IJM has already secured project financing from two local financial institutions to fund the build.
At 2.47pm on Thursday, shares of IJM were traded six sen or 2.01% lower at RM2.92, valuing the group at RM10.65 billion.