KUALA LUMPUR: Idaman Unggul Bhd has found a potential investor for its wholly owned subsidiary Lambang Pertama Sdn Bhd (LPSB), which was used as a special vehicle to take over Idris Hydraulic (Malaysia) Bhd (IHMB) about five years ago.

Idaman said yesterday Daiwa Securities SMBC Singapore Ltd had identified an investor, and had requested for further information on LPSB. Idaman said it had been in discussions with Daiwa for the proposed disposal of LPSB.

Idaman also said it had received a letter from Rabobank International expressing its interest to be an off-shore consultant in relation to the restructuring of the company’s loan stocks via the disposal of LPSB group as well as looking into the funding requirement for the group.

Idaman said Rabobank would work with a Malaysian adviser in relation to the exercise.

However, Idaman made no mention of the status of a share purchase agreement dated Dec 31, 2008 whereby it agreed to sell LPSB to Satin Court Sdn Bhd for RM400 million cash. Presumably, that deal had fallen through.

As part of the restructuring of IHMB, LPSB was used in 2003 as the vehicle to issue about RM233.99 million redeemable secured loan stocks (RSLS) and acquire the restructured IHMB group that was earmarked for disposal. The RSLS would be redeemed from the proceeds of the disposal of the assets.

After several extensions, the RSLS expired yesterday.

One of the primary residual assets in IHMB is Forest Management Unit (FMU) timber rights for 100 years under the sustainable forest management licence agreement entered into between IHMB and the Sabah government on Sept 10, 1997, consisting of an area of 234,552ha of permanent forest reserve in Sabah.

For the year ended Dec 31, 2008, LPSB posted a net loss of RM13.08 million and audited consolidated net loss of about RM255.7 million.  

Idaman was on Feb 29, 2008 classified as an affected listed issuer pursuant to the Amended Practice Note 17/2005 (PN17) and paragraph 8.14C of the Listing Requirements of Bursa Malaysia Securities Bhd. It is still in the midst of formulating a regularisation plan.