UEM Sunrise, AME Elite: RM972m land deal for RM4b Johor park

UEM Sunrise Bhd will put an initial RM226.6m into its new industrial park joint venture with AME Elite Consortium Bhd in Gerbang Nusajaya, Iskandar Puteri, and says more is likely to follow. In a Bursa filing on 5 November, it said its subsidiary UEM Land Bhd will put in RM3m for shares and RM223.6m in shareholder loans, about 3.5% of the group's net tangible assets of RM6.37b. How much more depends on bank loans and building costs, which are not yet known. If the total reaches 5% of net tangible assets, UEM Sunrise needs its shareholders' approval.

The filing also said UEM Sunrise's land company, Nusajaya Rise Sdn Bhd, applied to Majlis Bandaraya Iskandar Puteri on 2 November for amended planning permission that includes the park. The land's current planning permission was approved on 16 June 2025. Under the sale agreement, the amended permission must be obtained within six months.

The deal, announced 30 October

• The buyer: Gerbang Synergy Sdn Bhd, set up on 7 August 2026 and now owned 50:50 by UEM Land and AME Development Sdn Bhd, an AME Elite subsidiary.
• The seller: Nusajaya Rise, which sells 402.106 acres of freehold land to the joint venture for RM972.1m cash, or RM55.50 psf.
• The project: a managed industrial park with some commercial space and workers' accommodation, with an estimated gross development value of RM4b. It will be built in three phases from the end of 2027, over about 10 years. Target industries include electrical and electronics, medical devices and advanced logistics.
• AME's other roles: AME Development will also be project manager, for 1% of construction and infrastructure costs, and marketing manager, for 2% of each sale price.

The land

The land is in Mukim Tanjung Kupang, Johor Bahru district, about 15 minutes from the Second Link checkpoint to Singapore and inside the Johor-Singapore Special Economic Zone. It is an oil palm estate today, held under five master titles in the agriculture category. The titles themselves say that category is only for block-title registration and does not mean real farmland. Phases 1 and 2 are zoned industrial; Phases 3A and 3B are zoned commercial. The land cannot be sold to foreigners without state consent.

• Book value: RM847.2m (31 December 2025)
• UEM Sunrise's valuer, Asian Pullprop: RM928.3m
• AME Elite's valuer, CBRE WTW: RM975m

UEM Sunrise expects a net gain of RM47.4m at group level.

How the price is paid

The 10% deposit and the first 36% instalment are paid with equal loans from the two partners at 5% interest. The other 54%, about RM524.9m according to RHB Research, is meant to come from the joint venture's bank loans. Payments follow the approvals and Nusajaya Rise's own works: Phase 1A earthworks by 30 September 2027, all earthworks by 30 September 2028, and the last water supply works, including Reservoir R5, by 30 June 2030. The joint venture takes possession once 84% is paid.

The deal still needs:

• the amended planning permission, with development charges paid by Nusajaya Rise;
• surrender and re-alienation of the land into five block titles;
• Estate Land Board consent to the transfer;
• Ministry of Economy approval;
• AME Elite shareholders' approval at an EGM.

Both companies expect the land deal to complete by the third quarter of 2030.

What it means

AME Elite's land bank rises from 295.3 acres to 697.4 acres. RHB Research said this is UEM Sunrise's first industrial development at Gerbang Nusajaya; before, it sold land to AME Elite at the Southern Industrial and Logistics Clusters (SiLC), including about 170 acres in 2020. CIMB Research said UEM Sunrise is reviewing the Gerbang Nusajaya master plan and may turn more residential and commercial land in the same precinct into industrial land.

AME Elite is also the developer of Northern TechValley @ BKE in Penang.