Malaysia’s Westports buys undersea land to expand its box terminals

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Westports Holdings Bhd’s wholly owned subsidiary, Westports Malaysia Sdn Bhd (WMSB), is acquiring 154.2 hectares of undersea land in Pulau Indah, Selangor from the Selangor State Development Corporation (PKNS) for MYR116.185 million (US$28.072 million) in cash.

Westports Holdings said the land will be used to expand its container terminals at Port Klang, Malaysia’s largest port and the main gateway by sea into the country. This is because the current preliminary port design for Container Terminal 10 to Container Terminal 19 requires additional land acreage to accommodate new wharf and container yard space to facilitate effective operations of the new container terminals.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia recently, Westports Holdings said the utilization of the proposed land would be possible only after land reclamation has been carried out.

The company added that the purchase consideration will be satisfied entirely in cash, funded by internally generated funds.

WMSB, which is principally involved in developing and managing ports operations, has carried out land reclamation works at its existing Container Terminals 6, 7, 8, and 9.

The latest acquisition comes after Westports Holdings announced that its first-half 2018 TEU had increased by 20% from the same period in 2017.

Photo: Rifleman_82