Mulpha
Purchases Aussie Hotel Owner for A$226.5m(New Straits Times)
Date : 24/04/2004
MULPHA International Bhd has purchased Australian hotel owner Principal Financial Group Investments (Aust) Pty Ltd (PFG) for A$226.5million (A$1 = RM2.80).
"The entire 90 million shares were bought through wholly-owned Mulpha Australia Ltd" Mulpha said in a statement to Bursa Malaysia yesterday. "A conditional sale and purchase agreement was signed on March 16" the Group added.
This is the second major asset acquisition by Mulpha in Australia. In January 2002, the Group, through Mulpha Australia, paid A$208 million to purchase Sanctuary Cove in Queensland after winning an open tender.
That gave Mulpha ownership of a five-star hotel, two world-class golf courses, a marina as well as commerial units that make up the integrated resort development on 477.12ha, in addition to 1,377 land lots.
PFG's principal activity is in the ownership of hotels in Australia. An internet search shows that PFG could be part of US-based Principal Financial Group, which owns Principal Hotel Group (PHG), the eighth largest hotel owner in Australia. PHG owns award-winning Hayman Resorts, InterContinental Sydney, Sheraton Brisbane and the Melbourne Airport Hilton.
Besides developing properties and operating hotels and apartments, Mulpha also has business in the distribution of fashionwear, sports equipment and trading of securities. Its interests span across countries such as Hong Kong, Singapore and Vietnam, besides Malaysia and Australia.
Mulpha has listed Mega Pascal Berhad, one of the country's largest producers of ready-mixed concrete, on Bursa Malaysia's second board. It has also listed Greenfield Chemical Holdings Ltd on the main board of the Stock Exchange of Hong Kong.
The group has just reported its annual revenue for December 31 last year, which saw its earlier loss of RM7.32 million being turned into a RM77.36 million profit. Its net tangible asset improved by 23.52 per cent to RM1.26 per share.
Mulpha
Unit Enter Agreement to Buy Aussie Property Firm(The Star)
Date : 24/04/2004
Mulpha Australia Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Mulpha International
Bhd, has entered into a conditional agreement to acquire the entire issued
and paid-up share capital of 90,000,001 ordinary shares in Principal Financial
Group Investments (Aust) Pty Ltd (PFG) for about A$226.5mil cash.
In a filing with Bursa Malaysia yesterday, Mulpha said the proposed acquisition was subject to the fulfilment of the conditions precedent set out in the agreement. The principal activity of PFG is ownership of hotels in Australia.
The acquisition is believed to be part of the Group's plans to make a bigger foray in Australia to diversify its income base after realising the fruits of its real estate investments in Brisbane and Sydney.
After a net loss of RM7.3mil in 2002, Mulpha has swung around to record an unaudited profit before tax and exceptional items of RM136.4mil and net profit of RM77.4mil for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2003.
It attributed the turnaround to strong contributions from its operations in Australia and China - Mulpha Australia Ltd and Greenfield Chemical Holdings Ltd, respectively. The Australian operations accounted for at least 75% of the Group's earnings last year while the contribution from China totalled 10% to 15%.
Mulpha's development project in Sanctuary Cove, Queensland, and Norwest Business Park, Sydney, are believed to have made it one of the largest Malaysian-owned real estate investment and development groups in Australia.
The Group has invested some A$208mil in the Sanctuary Cove project, where an additional 910 bungalows will be developed over the next 10 years with the lots ranging from 8,000 sq ft to 10,000 sq ft in size.
Mulpha has expressed confidence that its Australian operations will continue to do well, as the property market there is buoyant. Furthermore, the appreciation of the Australian dollar vis-a-vis the ringgit will result in a strong forex translation gain for the Group.