KLIG in Talks to Exit Monorail Ops

MONORAIL operator KL Infrastructure Group Bhd (KLIG) said it is in talks with the Government and Bank Pembangunan Malaysia Bhd to sell KL Monorail’s assets and liabilities to Syarikat Prasarana Negara Bhd (SPNB).

It was responding to a query by Bursa Malaysia about a recent news report that KLIG will exit the local monorail business as asset ownership will be turned over to SPNB which already owns the assets for the Putra and Star light rail transit.

The operator of Putra and Star light rail transit is Rangkaian Pengangkutan Integrasi Deras Sdn Bhd (RapidKL).

Currently, SPNB owns 10 per cent of KLIG.

KLIG said SPNB, which comes under the purview of the Finance Ministry, has since completed its due diligence audit on KL Monorail.

KLIG took up a RM300 million loan from the Government and also undertook a RM260 million infrastructure loan from Bank Pembangunan.

This asset takeover plan is part of the Government’s masterplan to improve the urban public transport sector.

About RM10 billion has been allocated under the Ninth Malaysia Plan to synergise existing infrastructure so as to increase ridership up to 40 per cent.

KLIG has been losing money in the last three years, mainly due to depreciation and interest repayment costs.

Previously KLIG tried to turn around its business when it attempted to buy three companies from its parent company MTrans Holdings Sdn Bhd.

The proposal failed and subsequently some of the companies were bought up by Scomi Group.

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