SHAPADU PUTRAJAYA HAVEN | Putrajaya (Precinct 1) | Prep

Shapadu’s RM600m project next to MoF

By Kang Siew Li of theedgemalaysia.com
Monday, 14 April 2014 11:50


SHAH ALAM: Owned by the family of late businessman Datuk Shahrani Abdullah, Shapadu Corp Sdn Bhd is planning to launch a RM600 million mixed development on a prime site next to the Ministry of Finance (MoF) building in Precinct 1, Putrajaya later this year.

To be known as Shapadu City Village, it will be the group’s first large-scale integrated project in the Klang Valley. Its scheduled launch in the fourth quarter is also one of the privately-held group’s major activities in 2014, apart from the listing of its oil and gas (O&G) business in an initial public offering (IPO) worth at least RM300 million, as well as a plan to redevelop its hotel property in London later this year.

Sitting on a 2.44-acre (0.987ha) freehold land next to the MoF building, Shapadu City Village will feature a Grade A office tower which will house Shapadu’s new headquarters, a luxury hotel, lifestyle retail outlets and 150 high-end condominium units.

“We are in the midst of doing the planning submission and hopefully, we will get the approval by the third quarter of this year and launch the development in the fourth quarter,” Shapadu group executive director Rosthman Ibrahim (pic) told The Edge Financial Daily in a recent interview.

According to him, the condominium units will range from one to four bedrooms and are tentatively priced from RM700 to RM1,000 per sq ft. The gross development cost of the project will be about RM250 million, to be funded through a combination of equity, borrowings and end-financing.

Shapadu is at the same time looking to redevelop its existing hotel property in London, known as Days Hotel London-Waterloo. The group has been operating the hotel under the Days Hotel brand for some time.

“We bought the land together with the hotel, for £27 million (RM146.34 million) two-and-a-half years ago. The site is located in London Zone 1, which is a matured area. We intend to develop the site into a 300-room hotel of upper three-to four-star status with 150 serviced apartments. We are in the midst of negotiation with two hotel operators [to help develop and manage the new hotel],” said Rosthman.

Shapadu intends to seek fresh capital injections to fund the redevelopment of the London site.

“We haven’t decided yet whether it [funding] is going to be totally borne by us or to find an equity partner [to invest in the redevelopment project], but the partner can be local or from the UK. We expect to fund the project through 70% debt and 30% equity,” said Rosthman, estimating the gross development cost of the London project to be about £60 million.

Though privately held, Shapadu is believed to be well-funded. Apart from holding a myriad of businesses ranging from O&G, property development and transport-related services, the group also holds a 7.25% stake in Gas Malaysia Bhd. The stake is worth about RM342 million alone, given the gas company’s market capitalisation of RM4.7 billion.

Rosthman said the London project is subject to planning approval from the city council.

“We are now doing the final submission to the [London] council. We expect the plan to be submitted by July this year and to receive planning approval by the end of the year. In terms of the timing, we are looking to launch it at almost the same time with Shapadu City Village,” he said.

The group seems to be getting more aggressive in the property sector after launching its maiden residential project in Kertih, Terengganu last year with a gross development value (GDV) of RM31 million. Dubbed Kiara Kertih, the project comprises 92 terraced houses.

“The project has been fully taken up since its launch in October last year. Construction is ongoing and will be completed by the middle of next year,” said Rosthman.

Shapadu is also involved in property management through the ownership of Campbell Complex in Kuala Lumpur, which was acquired in 2011.

The 19-storey complex is currently undergoing a RM14 million makeover which, when completed by the fourth quarter of this year, will see six floors of office space being converted into a 132-room budget hotel.

Nevertheless, Rosthman does not expect revenue contribution from the property division to overtake the O&G segment in the near term, as the latter has a head start of 36 years. O&G activities contribute a lion’s share to group revenue at 85%, while property accounts for 12% and the rest comes from logistics services. Last year, the O&G division alone posted revenue of RM421.95 million.

The group will continue to scout for good landbank in prime locations for potential developments.

“There are plans to look at [acquiring] overseas landbank. We have started to make inroads into the United Arab Emirates, but this is still in its early stages.

“We have some lots of land in Kedah, but we want to keep them till we feel the time is right to move forward with developing them,” said Rosthman.


This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on April 14, 2014.

http://www.theedgeproperty.com/news-a-views/12407.html