PETALING JAYA: Selangor has made its latest attempt to bring all water assets in the state under its full control, but doubts linger whether the offer made yesterday would be accepted by the concessionaires involved.
There have been four failed offers since 2009 from the state government to buy out the concessionaires in Selangor, with the last one being made in February.
Puncak Niaga Holdings Bhd, which owns five water treatment concessions and a 70% stake in Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Syabas), said it received two letters yesterday from state investment arm Kumpulan Darul Ehsan Bhd (KDEB) offering to acquire the company’s water assets for RM5.58bil.
The offer values the group’s treatment plants at RM2.47bil and another RM3.12bil for its stake in Syabas.
“Puncak Niaga will review the respective offers by KDEB within the deadline of Dec 4, 2013,” the company told Bursa Malaysia yesterday. It said it would update the exchange on further developments in due course.
It would be interesting to see how Puncak Niaga reacts to the latest offer, which, at a quick glance, bears almost no improvement in valuation by the state government compared with the last offer it had refused earlier this year.
The Selangor state government, however, is hoping for a positive outcome.
In an interview in September, KDEB president Suhaimi Kamaralzaman had said he was hopeful that the water saga in Selangor would be resolved by the end of this year, even without any improvement in prices offered.
There are four water concessionaires in Selangor, namely, Syabas, Puncak Niaga, Syarikat Pengeluar Air Sungai Selangor Sdn Bhd, or Splash, and Konsortium Abass Sdn Bhd.
The latest offer is also extended to other players in the state.
Kumpulan Perangsang Selangor Bhd (KPS) yesterday said it had also received an offer from KDEB to acquire Titisan Modal Sdn Bhd for RM990.2mil. Titisan Modal owns 55% of Kumpulan Abass – the concessionaire for the Sungai Semenyih water supply scheme.
KPS also said that KDEB had offered to pay RM1.83bil for its 30% stake in Splash.
The company said it would review the offers and advised shareholders and potential investors to exercise caution when dealing in the company’s shares, as there was no certainty the proposed purchase may proceed or result in a binding agreement.
As at press time, it was unclear whether the offer had also been extended to Gamuda Bhd, which owns 40% of Splash. The Star