Partners Robert Tan to develop Johor Land IJM Land Bhd hasacquired 50.0% equity interest in Nasa Land Sdn Bhd, a subsidiary of AspirasiRatna Sdn Bhd for RM51.0mil, in order to expand its landbank. In a statement toBursa yesterday, the group said it had entered into a conditional share saleand purchase agreement with Aspirasi Ratna to acquire a total of one millionordinary shares at RM1 each in Nasa Land for a total cash consideration of RM51.0mil.

IJM Land decided to purchase the loss-making company aftertaking into consideration the future development potential of the remainingundeveloped land Nasa Land holds. IJM Land added that it will be funding theacquisition through internally generated funds.

Nasa Land is the land owner and developer of the Desa Palma,a mixed development project in Mukim Tebrau, Johor Baru, and it has 39ha ofundeveloped land in the area. ' The Edge

To spend RM63mil to set up more outlets in Msia and India KFCHoldings (M) Bhd's (KFCH) managing director, Jamaluddin Ali, said it will spendRM63.0mil this year to expand its operations locally as well as in India.

He said KFCH which has at present 550 outlets throughout thecountry, will invest another RM45.0mil this year to open 15 additional outlets,with 10 of it being drivethrough. For the Indian market, they plan to spendRM18.0mil this year to add another nine outlets in Mumbai and Pune, bringingthe total number to 26 in the country.

On the attempt by KFCH to improve customer service, he said,the company is in the midst of installing 100 Kiosk Display System (KDS) at itshigh-traffic outlets in the Klang Valley, Penang and Johor Baharu. He said theKDS will cut queuing-time at these outlets, thus providing much better service.

He added that installing the KDS at the KFC outlets, is alsoan attempt by the company which employs 35,000 staff throughout its operations,to improve Information Technology (IT) capability and hospitality among itsfrontline members. - StarBiz

To be oneworld member soon By year-end Malaysia Airlines(MAS) would have become a full member of the oneworld alliance and would beable to offer connectivity to about 800 destinations

in 150 countries by riding on an expanded oneworld network.

MAS group chief executive officer Ahmad Jauhari Yahya saidthis membership will be among the significant catalysts that will complementtheir efforts to win back customers and become a profitable preferred premiumcarrier as outlined in their Business Plan.

Jauhari said the entry into oneworld would enhance itsnetwork considerably whileproviding baseload demand from fellow oneworldmembers. ' StarBiz

Biggest abandoned housing project in the country to berevived Malaysia Building Society Bhd (MBSB) will finance the builder andbuyers of Malaysia's biggest abandoned housing project, located in Bandar BaruSalak Tinggi, Sepang as part of its efforts to resolve its corporate legacyaccounts issue.

MBSB, which is 65.5%-owned by the Employees Provident Fund(EPF), will provide term and bridging facilities of up to RM215.0mil to builderNCT United Development Sdn Bhd (NCT), and an additional RM243.0mil to the buyers,said its CEO Datuk Ahmad Zaini Othman.

Buyers will pay an interest rate of base financing rateminus 0.5%, which is slightly more expensive compared with conventional loansbecause these borrowers are mostly in their 50s. MBSB is also classified as an'exempt finance company' and is thus not bounded by any financial regulators inMalaysia.

According to MBSB, the housing project was abandoned due tocost overruns coupled with the 'unfavourable economic situation then'. NCT CEOZulfikri Saidin said it will be renamed Sepang Perdana and is expected to becompleted within two years. ' StarBiz

Source: AmeSecurities