IPOH, March 20 — The defence minister’s office has reiterated that the Royale Chulan Bukit Bintang Hotel still belongs to Boustead Holdings Berhad.
In a statement today, the minister’s press secretary Amin Shah Iskandar said before the hotel can be sold off, three requirements have to be adhered to.
“The buyer needs to receive the approval from the Economic Planning Unit, the buyer needs to obtain the approval from the Kuala Lumpur Federal Territory Working Committee and the buyer fulfils all requirements and listing allocation as set by Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited,” he said.
Amin said since the requirements have yet to be fulfilled, the hotel still remains with Boustead, which is a subsidiary of Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera (LTAT).
He was responding to a report in The Edge on March 15 that Boustead Holdings Bhd inked a sale and purchase agreement (SPA) with Singapore’s Hotel Royal Ltd to sell its Royale Chulan Bukit Bintang Hotel for RM197 million in cash, a little over two weeks after the Defence Ministry said the sale wasn’t a done deal.
The weekly had reported that the SPA formalises Boustead’s previous announcement to Bursa Malaysia on February 19, which said the company had accepted Hotel Royal’s offer for the property.
At that time, Hotel Royal was granted a one-month exclusivity period to conduct due diligence on the hotel, which is located in the Bukit Bintang area.
