DRB-Hicom finds new potential buyer for S’pore shopping mall

The 75%-completed Tekka Mall in Singapore,DRB-HICOM Bhd's first venture into the international property market.

KUALA LUMPUR: Three months after aborting the deal to sell its 90% stake in The Verge commercial complex in Singapore, DRB-Hicom Bhd has identified a new potential buyer, Singapore-listed property development and construction group Lum Chang Holdings Ltd (LCH).

The automotive giant told Bursa Malaysia that its indirect unit Hicom Megah Sdn Bhd and minority shareholders of Corwin Holding Pte Ltd, which owns The Verge commercial complex (a six-storey shopping mall and an eight-storey building called Chill @ The Verge) at Serangoon Road, signed a non-binding term sheet to sell their combined 100% stake in Corwin to LCH. 

The proposed disposal of the 100% equity interest in Corwin, comprising 14.5 million ordinary shares and 866,840 redeemable preference shares, is subject to terms to be finalised in the definitive agreements.

LCH will conduct due diligence on Corwin as well as begin negotiations with Hicom Megah and Corwin’s minority shareholders to finalise the terms of the binding definitive agreements within the exclusivity period of four weeks or to another date to be mutually agreed by the parties.

In December last year the vendors signed a conditional agreement to sell their combined 100% equity interest to Evolutyon Real Estate Investment Holding Pte Ltd (EREIH) for an indicative price of S$317mil (RM958.5mil)..

However, the share sale agreement was terminated in May due to EREIH’s inability to “fulfill its contractual obligations on the agreed completion date,”