Aust group gets financing for TRX project

Work on the site has picked up considerable pace of late, sources said.
Lendlease Asia chief executive officer Tony Lombardo declined to say how much loan financing the Australian group is seeking for its urban regeneration project – its first in Malaysia – but said both local and foreign banks are involved.
He expects the loan and financing arrangements to be completed by the end of October.
On whether Lendlease is seeking up to 4.5 billion ringgit in financing, Lombardo said the figure is “incorrect”. He declined to elaborate.
However, a financial daily reported in May that Lendlease was close to securing between 2 billion ringgit and 3 billion ringgit worth of financing for its Lifestyle Quarter project.
For perspective, the success of Lendlease getting the financing it needs to progress with its 17 acres in Kuala Lumpur’s urban regeneration project is significant, sources said.
Lendlease was the first developer to wade into TRX. It is the only company to have signed a joint-venture (JV) agreement with TRX City Sdn Bhd, then known as 1MDB Real Estate Sdn Bhd, the property arm of 1Malaysia Development Bhd (1MDB) and the master developer of TRX.
Banks and a couple of government-linked corporations also bought land for development, but they are not JV partners.
Given its global presence and branding, the Australian group’s entry “boosted confidence” and gave the 70-acre project “a lot of credibility” when it entered into an agreement to jointly develop the retail lifestyle parcel with TRX City in 2014 in a 60:40 deal, with Lendlease holding the bigger stake.