GSH, popiah king invest RM700m in resorts business

Published Wed, Jan 1, 2014 · 10:00 PM

GSH Corporation and TYJ Group Pte Ltd - the investment vehicle of "popiah king" Sam Goi - are jointly investing about 700 million ringgit (S$269.7 million) for a 77.5 per cent stake in The Sutera Harbour Group Sdn Bhd.

Eagle Origin Limited (EOL), currently the sole owner of The Sutera Harbour Group, will hold the remaining 22.5 per cent. EOL is owned by Edward Ong Han Nam, the founder of Sutera Harbour Resort.

After the acquisition, The Sutera Harbour Group will hold 100 per cent of Sutera Harbour Resorts, which operates two five-star hotels in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, as well as the 104-berth Sutera Harbour Marina and Country Club which has a 27-hole championship golf course.

Of the RM700 million, RM250 million in equity capital will be injected by GSH's wholly owned Borneo Ventures into The Sutera Harbour Group.

The remainder will take the form of loan capital, with Borneo Ventures and TYJ Group subscribing to new cumulative redeemable preference shares in The Sutera Harbour Group for RM260 million and RM190 million, respectively.

"Kota Kinabalu is a rising property hot spot in Malaysia and we see robust potential for prime real estate in the city, fuelled by strong tourism growth from North-east Asian countries such as Korea, Japan, Hong Kong and China," said Gilbert Ee, GSH's chief executive officer, yesterday. "With such strong fundamentals, we see great potential in Kota Kinabalu's luxury hospitality sector as well as premier resort homes."

In addition, GSH's wholly owned subsidiaries, Ocean View Ventures Pte Ltd and Ocean View Point Pte Ltd, have agreed to buy stakes in two separate land parcels measuring 12.1 acres and 13.11 acres, respectively, within the 384-acre Sutera Harbour property.

GSH will hold an extraordinary general meeting to seek shareholders' approval for the Sutera Harbour Resorts Group acquisition.

GSH last closed at 8.1 cents on Dec 27.

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