MALAYSIA: SENAI Desaru Expressway Sdn Bhd (SDESB), the concession holder for the RM1.48bil Senai Desaru Expressway, will be issuing bonds worth RM1bil in the next few months to finance the project.

Director Tan Sri Hamdan Mohamad said the company had already appointed the advisers for the exercise.

"We expect the bonds to have a tenure of between 10 years to 15 years," he told reporters after the concession signing ceremony between the company and the Government in Kuala Lumpur on Saturday.

Hamdan, who is also Ranhill Bhd president and chief executive, said the balance of the funds would be raised through equity financing.

Works Minister Datuk Seri S. Samy Vellu and Johor Mentri Besar Datæ%âbdul Ghani Othman were present at the event.

Sources said Hamdan, who owns Rancak Bistari Sdn Bhd, would likely inject SDESB into Ranhill at a later date.

SEDSB, a 70:30 joint venture between Rancak Bistari and Yayasan Pelajaran Johor Sdn Bhd (YPJ), has been awarded the contract to build the 77km expressway linking Senai in the east to Desaru in west Johor.

The concession is for 33 years, including three years of construction.

The expressway will link to seven main industrial areas in Johor that include the Senai, Ulu Tiram, Pasir Gudang and Penawar Industrial zones, and will have a connector to Pasir Gudang.

A prominent feature of the expressway will be the 1.9km long Sungai Johor Bridge that will run across Sungai Johor linking the west and east coast of Johor.

Source: The Star Online