Landmark EGM

02-11-2007: Landmarks not seeking gaming licence for Bintan Island
by Yong Yen Nie

KUALA LUMPUR: Landmarks Bhd’s subsidiary Bintan Treasure Bay Pte Ltd (BTB), which is planning a multi-billion ringgit resort on Bintan Island, Indonesia, is not seeking a gaming licence.

A company official said on Nov 2 that it has not expressed interests in securing a gaming licence as it was uncertain if the Indonesian government would approve of such a proposal.

Landmarks, however, is open to such possibilities in the future, the official said.

Bintan Treasure is undertaking a resort project on Bintan Island with a gross development value of RM4 billion.

Earlier, Landmark’s chief operating officer Lim Boon Soon dismissed the possibility that Landmarks would secure the gaming licence as “a market rumour”.

Speaking to reporters after the EGM, he said Genting Bhd, which owned 25% of Landmarks, had not requested for a seat at its Board or management.

At the EGM on Nov 2, Landmarks’ shareholders had approved of its proposed disposal of 26.6% stake, represented by 117.1 million shares of RM1 apiece in Shangri-La Hotels (Malaysia) Bhd.

On the development plans in Bintan Island, Lim said there would be a delay in the finalisation process, as Landmarks would like to increase its GDV to more than RM4 billion.

“Hopefully, we will be able to finalise the plan by the first quarter of next year,” he said.

To finance the project, Landmarks might team up with overseas partners and also sell part of its land bank to developers to raise funds for its plan to boost its Bintan Treasure stake.

Landmarks is acquiring an additional 9.5% in Bintan Treasure from Bold Impact Enterprises Ltd for S$23.17 million (RM53.3 million) cash, which would boost its shareholding to 74%.

On another matter, Lim said Landmarks was considering to dispose of its 20% stake in Teknologi Tenaga Perlis Consortium Sdn Bhd (TTPC), as the former did not have a controlling stake in the independent power plant. However, there had been no bids for the stake yet, he said.