Fresh from RM2.2b deal, ex-CJ’s wife’s firm plots route to listing

(The Malaysian Insider) - Emrail Sdn Bhd is set to list on Bursa Malaysia through a reverse takeover of a dormant cash-rich entity, just months after the government was forced to defend its decision to give the company, owned by Umno lawyer Datuk Hafarizam Harun and the wife of former Chief Justice Tun Zaki Azmi, the RM2.2 billion deal to build the Kinrara-Damansara Expressway.

The shareholders of Emrail and Premier Naflin Bhd, a company with RM115 million in hand and no business since last October, announced yesterday that a deal had been been struck which would see the former take over the latter’s listing status.

Premier’s major shareholders are Tan Sri K.R. Somasundram and the National Land Finance Co-operative Society Ltd.

Besides Hafarizam, the other directors in Emrail now are Tan Sri Hari Narayanan and Toh Puan Nik Sazlina Mohd Zain, Zaki’s wife.

In February, Hafarizam told The Malaysian Insider that any suggestion of a deal struck because of his role in the Perak constitutional crisis in 2009 was “tainted with mala fide (bad faith) and intended to bring me and Tun Zakiinto public odium, scandal and disrepute.”

Hafarizam, who is the ruling Malay party’s legal adviser, denied that the highway concession award was given as a reward to him and Zaki allegedly for their roles in the 2009 Perak crisis that saw the state government switch from Pakatan Rakyat (PR) to Barisan Nasional (BN), which is held together by Umno.

Zaki declined to comment when contacted.

Emrail and Zabima Engineering Sdn Bhd had been awarded the lucrative RM2.2 billion contract to build the Kinrara-Damansara Expressway (Kidex), Hafarizam confirmed then.

The editor of the Malaysia Today website claimed in an article published in February under the title “Episode 9: The reward for giving Perak back to Umno” that Harafizam and Zaki, who retired on September 9 last year, were awarded the highway contract via Emrail.

The new highway, which will be a tolled road, will link Kinrara and Pusat Bandar Damansara and will divert traffic on the LDP.

In February, Deputy Prime Minister Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin also denied allegations that the deal was given to companies linked to the Umno lawyer due to political reasons.

According to The Edge Financial Daily today, the expressway project is not expected to take off until after the general election which is only expected after Chinese New Year.

The newspaper also reported that yesterday’s announcement stated that a special purpose vehicle (SPV) would initially be set up to take over Premier’s listing status.