IWH/Tebrau

IWH is 60% controlled by entrepreneur Tan Sri Lim Kang Hoo through Credence Resources Sdn Bhd while the remaining 40% is owned by KPRJ, a unit controlled by the Johor government. IWH controls listed Tebrau Teguh Bhd.

Soon to be listed IWH is a also a major player with 4000 acres in Danga Bay, Tebrau and Johor Baru while Sunway has 1558 acres. Tebrau Teguh is seen as a good proxy for IWH.

The listing of Iskandar Waterfront, a major developer of important parts of JB, is expetcd to raise more than US$300 million (rm900 million).

Tebrau is a waell connected company and investors see it as benefiting from the many projects in Iskandar Malaaysia.

In Dec 2012, its unit Tebrau Bay Construction Sdn Bhd was appointed a building and infra work contractor worth rm335 million.

As at end Sept 2012, its net assets per share stood at rm0.78.

The impending mega initial public offering (IPO) of IWH is hoping to lock in some global names in the property and investment world as cornerstone investors.

Among possible candidates are Singapore's Temasek Holdings Pte Ltd as well as its associate company Capitaland Ltd <http://archives.thestar.com.my/search/?q=CapitaLand%20Ltd>  one of Asia's largest real estate companies.

Also being wooed are Hong Kong investors in the likes of Malaysian Robert Kuok and other players there.

The Kuok group has diverse business interests as well as a significant property division under Kerry Holdings Ltd that has projects in Hong Kong, Macau, China and Australia.
Aside from these, IWH is also wooing big funds in the United States such as BlackRock Inc and Franklin Templeton.

BlackRockis a fund-management company based in New York with more than US$3 trillion (RM9.27 trillion) under management. Investment firm Franklin Templeton is headquartered in California and has more than US$800bil worth of assets under management.

The IWH IPO, slated for a listing in the middle of 2013, is set to raise close to RM1bil. However, some reports have indicated that the figure could be much higher.

Some familiar names from the list of IHH Healthcare Bhd investors may potentially emerge in IWH's listing as well, such as Vanguard Group Inc, Bank of NY Melton Corp and Morgan Stanley.

Both the EPF and Khaznaha Nasional Bhd have indirect stakes in IWH, held via Iskandar Investmebt Bhd.

IWH's vision is to create an international waterfront destination. It has some 1,619ha in Iskandar Malaysia, Johor, which comprises three main areas: Danga Bay, Johor Baru City Centre and Tebrau Coast.

IWH is 60% owned by Tan Sri Lim Kang Hoo via Credence Resources Sdn Bhd. The Johor government, through Kumpulan Prasarana Rakyat Johor, holds the remaining 40% stake. However, sources said that this structure could change in the process of readying IWH for its mega listing.

IWH's waterfront project will have a reported gross development value of about RM80bil. When completed, Iskandar Waterfront will be a waterfront city fronting Singapore.

Some sceptics are questioning the attractiveness of IWH to investors on the basis that it is seen as a “one-project real estate company”.

On the other hand, bankers who are more bullish about the deal reckon that there are many reasons investors would be keen to have a slice of IWH. These include IWH land's proximity to land-starved Singapore and the high plot ratios that IWH has in comparison to companies like UEM Land Holdings.