According to a Bursa Malaysia filing on March 20, E&O’s indirect wholly-owned subsidiary Samudra Pelangi Sdn Bhd and Mitsui’s indirect wholly-owned subsidiary Mitsui Fudosan Asia Pte Ltd entered into a shareholders’ agreement to jointly develop a luxury highrise project in the heart of Kuala Lumpur city.
E&O’s Samudra will hold 51% stake in the joint venture while the remainder will be held by Mitsui. This joint venture marks E&O and Mitsui’s third alliance, or their second in terms of residential development. Mitsui is one of Japan’s largest property company by operating revenue.
Both parties will develop a 298-unit serviced apartment project on a 5,812 sq m freehold land through landowner Patsawan Properties Sdn Bhd (Patsawan), which in turn is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Samudra.
The land is strategically located at the intersection of Jalan Kia Peng and Jalan Conlay where a double-storey colonial mansion is now seated. The project is within an exclusive residential enclave among diplomatic corps, and the city’s business, retail and cultural districts.
As of end March 2015, Patsawan has already obtained the development order approval for the project from KL City Hall. The development plan consists of two blocks of 30 and 40-storey luxury service apartments.
In 2011, a marketing collaboration was signed for selling E&O’s properties to Mitsui’s high-net-worth clientele in Japan. The tie-up led to a 2013 partnership in which the two companies jointly developed the 38-storey, 256-unit The Mews Serviced Residences in Kuala Lumpur City Centre, which has received extremely positive response since its launch.
Japanese buyers was said to have become the second largest segment in E&O’s foreign buyer profile.