THE sale of Gamuda’s stakes in toll highways for RM2.36 bil may fall through given the current economic headwinds primarily caused by the Covid-19 outbreak, Affin Hwang Investment Bank said in a note today.
The research house highlighted that financial constraints such as the federal government deficit, which is expected to spike due to economic stimulus measures, were among the contributing factors that might see the deal collapse.
But “we gather that the new government is also more supportive of public-private partnership projects for infrastructure development,” Afffin Hwang IB said.
Gamuda had engaged the government to “provide industry feedback on reviving mega infrastructure projects such as the MRT3 project to pump-prime the economy,” it added.
The construction and property group has majority stakes in the Damansara-Puchong Expressway, SPRINT Expressway, Shah Alam Expressway, and SMART Tunnel.
Putrajaya wanted to take over the four highways during the Pakatan Harapan (PH) regime in June last year.
Then finance minister Lim Guan Eng said the proposed acquisition would be funded by a bond issuance fully financed and paid for from the collection of congestion charges.
In his Budget 2020 speech in October last year, Lim said the Cabinet had approved the takeover.
But a change in government happened through a coup that saw the collapse of the PH government.
Muhyiddin Yassin was then sworn in as prime minister in March with his Perikatan Nasional coalition taking over Putrajaya. – June 25, 2020
