YNH Property Bhd is delaying the sale of part of a 2.1-billion-ringgit (US$600 million) tower being designed by Norman Foster as the global credit crisis threatens the Malaysian capital's biggest commercial property transaction.
The company may scrap plans to raise as much as 1.2 billion ringgit by selling the second half of the project and is in talks with funds from Singapore, Japan and Hong Kong on a venture to help complete development of the tower, said Daniel Chan, head of corporate services at the Ipoh, Malaysia-based company.
"People are more cautious and want lower pricing," Chan said in an interview with Bloomberg News yesterday. "This global problem will definitely affect Malaysia. It would be foolish to say that we will be shielded."
YNH stumbled attempting to carry out Kuala Lumpur's biggest commercial real estate deal as the global credit crisis threatened to tip the world into recession. Malaysia's government said on Monday that it expects slower-than-expected growth next year as the United States and Chinese economies cool.
Shares of YNH slid 5.7 percent to close at 1.15 ringgit in Kuala Lumpur, the lowest level since February 2006. The stock has fallen 57 percent this year, outpacing the 37-percent slide in the benchmark Composite Index.
The company said that it is delaying the completion of the 920-million-ringgit sale of the first half of the 45-story office development to Kuwait Finance House (Malaysia) Bhd because of design changes, Chan said.