Exchange 106: court won't pause MOF unit's RM1 share suit
- The High Court refused Mulia International's bid to pause MKD Signature's suit over the Exchange 106 tower company.
- MKD Signature, owned by MOF Inc, holds 51% and wants Mulia's 49% for RM1 under a 2017 option that Mulia did not exercise.
- Mulia says it put RM1.2b into the project and values the project and land at RM5.01b (October 2022).
- Eka Tjandranegara's ICSID arbitration against Malaysia, registered in June 2025, continues separately.
Who owns Exchange 106?
Mulia Property Development Sdn Bhd owns the tower; MOF Inc's MKD Signature holds 51% of it and Indonesia's Mulia International holds 49%.
Why is MKD Signature suing Mulia International?
To enforce a 2017 agreement that lets it buy Mulia's remaining 49% for RM1, because Mulia did not buy back the 51% by 26 June 2023.
What did the High Court decide on Exchange 106?
It refused Mulia International's application to pause the suit until an ICSID arbitration ends, and ordered RM100,000 in costs.
What is the Exchange 106 ICSID arbitration about?
Eka Tjandranegara claims Malaysia breached the 2009 ASEAN Comprehensive Investment Agreement over his investment in Exchange 106; the case is pending.
The High Court in Kuala Lumpur has refused to pause a lawsuit over who owns Exchange 106, the 106-storey tower at Tun Razak Exchange (TRX). Mulia International, a unit of Indonesia's Mulia Group (PT Mulialand), had asked the court to stay a suit by MKD Signature Sdn Bhd, a special-purpose company owned by the Minister of Finance Incorporated (MOF Inc), until an international arbitration against Malaysia is decided. Justice Leong Wai Hong dismissed the application and ordered Mulia International to pay RM100,000 in costs.
The decision was given on 25 September 2026, according to MKD Signature's lawyers, Shearn Delamore. The Edge, which saw the judgment, reported it as delivered on 7 October.
Who owns what
- The tower company: Mulia Property Development Sdn Bhd owns Exchange 106. Mulia International first held all of it
- 51%: MKD Signature took 51% for RM1 under agreements of 19 July 2017, in return for procuring up to RM2 billion of financing from HSBC, after the project could not raise loans amid market worries linked to the 1MDB scandal
- 49%: still with Mulia International, which had an option to buy back the 51% and repay the loan: RM100 million within two years, RM200 million between two and three years, and, under a 2022 supplementary agreement, RM250 million by 26 June 2023
- If it did not: MKD Signature could buy the 49% for RM1
The lawsuit
- Default: Mulia International did not buy back the stake by the deadline. On 27 June 2023 MKD Signature issued a default notice and tendered a RM1 cheque for the 49%
- The suit: MKD Signature sued in May 2024 to enforce the agreements, including the transfer of the 49%, which would give MOF Inc's company all of the tower company
- Mulia's side: it applied for a stay on 4 October 2024, calling the suit an attempt to take full ownership for a nominal RM2 in total. Its owner, Eka Tjandranegara, says in court filings that the group put RM1.2 billion into the project and that he never agreed to the RM1 clause. Mulia International put the project and land at RM5.01 billion as at 26 October 2022, The Edge reported in January 2025
Why the court said no
- The two cases have different parties, legal bases and remedies. MKD Signature's is a contract claim under Malaysian law; the arbitration is a treaty claim by Eka against Malaysia
- Neither MKD Signature nor Mulia International is a party to the arbitration, and the ICSID Convention's rule that arbitration excludes other remedies (Article 26) applies to the parties to it
- Malaysia has no law giving the court power to grant such a stay, and letting the suit go on does not stop Eka pursuing his claim
The arbitration
- Case: Eka Tjandranegara v. Malaysia, ICSID Case No. ARB/25/27, under the 2009 ASEAN Comprehensive Investment Agreement, registered on 10 June 2025
- Tribunal: formed on 13 January 2026 and chaired by Juliet Blanch. Malaysia is represented by Linklaters with the Attorney General's Chambers and the Prime Minister's, Finance and Investment ministries
- Latest step: Eka filed his memorial on the merits on 11 September 2026. The case is pending
Cover photo: Low Yen Yeing/The Edge Malaysia.
- The Edge Malaysia — High Court dismisses Mulia International's bid to stay MKD Signature's suit over Exchange 106 tower ownership dispute (27 Oct 2026)
- Shearn Delamore, via Conventus Law — Malaysia: High Court refuses stay of contractual claim pending ICSID arbitration (9 Oct 2026)
- ICSID — Eka Tjandranegara v. Malaysia (ICSID Case No. ARB/25/27), case details (10 Nov 2026)
- The Edge Malaysia — Cover Story: Shareholder dispute at Exchange 106 (23 Jan 2025)
Facts summarised in our own words, with our own analysis added.
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