IGB Corporation Bhd is looking to develop a megamall inJohor Baru (JB), similar to the multi-billion ringgit Mid Valley Megamall inKuala Lumpur that was built by the group about 12 years ago. According tosources in the property sector, IGB is to sign a memorandum of understanding(MoU) with Selia Pantai Sdn Bhd today for the joint development of the megamallin JB. The JB megamall project is estimated to cost RM2.0bil toRM3.0bil, and will take up some 40 acres (16.2ha) of land, with about threemillion sq ft in built-up area. In comparison, the Mid Valley Megamall has abuilt-up area of about 4.5 million sq ft.

The sources said IGB may take up a 70.0% stake in the JBmegamall project, with Selia Pantai holding the rest. Selia Pantai is a jointventure between Teluk Zamrud Sdn Bhd and Kumpulan Prasarana Rakyat Johor(KPRJ), which is the Johor state investment company. ' The Edge

Malaysia Airlines (MAS) has signed a re-accommodationagreement (RA) with AirAsia X to accommodate the latter's passengers on fourroutes cancelled by using excess capacity on Malaysia Airlines flights. Thefour routes involve Mumbai, New Delhi, London and Paris. In a statement, MAS said both economy- and premium-classpassengers with confirmed AirAsia X tickets issued before January 13 to thefour routes would be transferred to MAS and flights will be between March 28and October 27.  It added that under theterms of the RA, Malaysia Airlines would receive upfront cash payments or pre-paymentson tickets for the re-accommodated passengers before departure. To date, MAShas received a prepayment of RM20.0mil in cash. The national carrier said it benefits from the arrangementas it is able to achieve higher passenger numbers on its flights which would beincremental to its normal load patterns. ' Business Times

Malaysia Building Society Bhd (MBSB) has refuted a localnewspaper report that it is looking into opportunities in the London propertymarket. In a statement yesterday, MBSB said it has not made any such statementand wishes to inform that the company has no plans to expand its businessoverseas.

Quoting an industry source, the report in a local Malaydaily said that MBSB's overseas venture plan will be made with the cooperationof its main shareholder, the Employees Provident Fund. It also said the planwith a time-frame of between five and seven years was aimed at enhancing thescope of future income generation and profit for MBSB. ' The Edge

Utility giant, Tenaga Nasional Bhd, has signed a RenewableEnergy Power Purchase Agreement (Reppa) with Core Competencies Sdn Bhd topurchase energy generated from municipal solid waste. The move marked a new erafor the national energy company in promoting energy generation using greentechnology.

Core Competencies chairman Datuk Ariffin Aton said throughthe agreement, the national utility company will purchase energy generated fromits plant, currently in Semenyih, Selangor, for 42 sen per KW/hour, over threetimes higher than the rate of normal IPP of 13 sen. The agreement, for a tenureof 21 years, would see the company initially providing 64 megawatt (1 megawatt= 1000 kilowatt) of electricity per day.

Ariffin said a plant in Batu Pahat, Johor, estimated to costRM200.0mil, has already been approved by the government and will be developedvia public-private-partnership. The plant, scheduled to be operational in 2014,will produce an extra 13 megawatt per hour of electricity from 1000 tonnes ofwaste per day of which 10 megawatt per hour will be exported to the nationalgrid and the rest will be used internally. ' Bernam

Source: AmeSecurities