PUTRAJAYA: The Cabinet has not decided on the date for the takeover of Gamuda Bhd’s four urban highways, says the Prime Minister.
While the Ministry of Finance (MoF) seems to be convinced that the takeover can be done, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad said the government did not have the financial ability to do so.
“MoF says that by charging during the peak hours, they can raise enough funds to pay for the acquisition of the highways. We have to see whether that will be enough or not, ” he said in response to a report that the proposal to acquire the highway toll concessions for RM6.2bil had been suspended for a re-examination.
Asked if the takeover had been put on hold, the Prime Minister said the Cabinet was told about the plan by the MoF but had not said “no” to the proposal.
“It is the date of implementation that is going to be decided by the Cabinet, ” he said.
On June 22, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said the Federal Government had made a conditional offer, subject to Cabinet approval, to acquire four highways, which would be funded by a bond issuance that would be fully financed and paid for from the collection of congestion charges.
For Gamuda, the offer translates to an effective equity value of RM2.36bil for the four highways, while for its 44%-owned Litrak Holdings, it works out to RM2.75bil or RM5.51 per share.
The four highways are Lebuhraya Damansara-Puchong (LDP), Sistem Penyuraisan Trafik KL Barat (Sprint), Lebuhraya Shah Alam (Kesas) and Smart Tunnel.
