Mid-East funds set to pump billions of dollars into IDR - BT reports

Article reported from today's BT(25/08/07). we can smell that mid-east big money is swamping in johor IDR for real as infrastructure and construction demands there are accelerating! CSC armed with its m'sian units G-Pile and L&M Ground Engineering will obviously be benefited from this ongoing development. company CEO once mentioned early in an interview that CSC will be able to seize opportunities in m'sia much more quicker than other countries in the region. barring any unpredictable crisis, i always believe CSC has a rosy turnaround story in the making by riding on the current construction boom cycle. so let's sit and wait how successfully CSC executes its biz plans in near future!!

Business Times - 25 Aug 2007

Mid-East funds set to pump billions of dollars into IDR Announcements expected over next two to three weeks: report

(PETALING JAYA) Middle East investors are set to make their biggest investments in Malaysia so far in the Iskandar Development Region (IDR), The StarBiz reported, citing industry sources.

It quoted the sources as saying that it will be a major move that will transform the IDR and more than kickstart the region as a serious development.

In the past, Middle East investments in Malaysia have been generally below US$1 billion each (except for the US$3 billion Saudi Telekom deal with Binariang). This time, it is believed, billions of dollars will be poured into the IDR.

Over the next two to three weeks, major announcements are expected from some of the biggest funds in the world that are holding billions of dollars of oil money. Among these funds, the Abu Dhabi Investment Agency alone has investment assets exceeding US$500 billion. The agency is jointly owned by Abu Dhabi Investment Council and the National Bank of Abu Dhabi.

The sectors that these investors are eyeing include infrastructure, banking, property, logistics, construction, engineering, tourism, hotels, theme parks and convention centres.

'It looks like a sea change in the mindset of the Middle East investors towards South-east Asia,' said a senior analyst.

Malaysia and Singapore appear to be among the favourite destinations of these investors as both countries have pull factors such as an efficient workforce and good infrastructure and banking facilities.

In south Johor, land is considered still cheap and these investors will be buying in a big way, the report said.

With the first mover advantage, these investors are expected to return to the Middle East and secure partners for the projects. It would not come as a surprise if a Middle Eastern enclave is formed in the commercial centre of south Johor, the newspaper added.

StarBiz recently reported that the takeover of Putrajaya Perdana Bhd by a consortium of Middle Eastern, Malaysian and Singapore investors was a prelude to further acquisitions in corporate Malaysia.

Talk is that the new Middle Eastern owners of Putrajaya Perdana will buy more construction companies in Malaysia, with the first expected within 60 days.

The companies will be bought in stages and later merged with Putrajaya Perdana for the latter to have sufficient scale to take on jobs not only in this region but also in the Middle East.

'This would be the first step in our larger plan of creating a global construction giant to capitalise on the increasing demand for construction firms globally, especially in the GCC (Gulf Cooperation Council),' Sheikh Sabah Mohd S Al-Sabah, a member of Kuwait's ruling Al-Sabah family, said in a statement announcing the takeover.

A controlling and majority stake in Putrajaya Perdana is being bought for RM390 million (S$170.6 million) in cash by Swan Symphony Sdn Bhd, a special-purpose vehicle owned by the Abu Dhabi-Kuwait-Malaysia Investment Corp and Autron Investment, a subsidiary of Singapore and Australian-listed Autron Corp Ltd.