UEM Sunrise seeks UK, Aussie land to buffer risk

Kuala Lumpur

UEM Sunrise Bhd wants to acquire land in the UK and Australia after a glut of high-rise homes in a southern region where the Malaysian developer is the biggest landowner dents demand.

UEM Sunrise plans to sell some plots in the 223,000-hectare Iskandar Malaysia economic zone in Johor state to expand elsewhere, managing director Anwar Syahrin Abdul Ajib said in an interview on Monday. It is keen to start with small developments in London and will look for land in Melbourne, he said.

"I'm still keeping the prime land," Mr Anwar, 42, who became managing director last September, said at his office in Kuala Lumpur. "The only reason why I actually want to sell some land in Johor is to enable me to not borrow too much money when I go and do land-banking outsid…