Legal tussle for 960-acre land bought by Mah Sing

KUALA LUMPUR: Mah Sing Group Bhd unit Grand Prestige Development Sdn Bhd, which seeks to launch a project with a potential gross development value (GDV) of RM7.5bil on 960 acres in Seremban, has been served a court order on the land.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, Mah Sing said Grand Prestige had been served with a writ and statement of claim made in the Seremban High Court by seven people who claimed they were undivided registered proprietors/beneficial owners to the land.

According to the property developer, the plaintiffs seek to a declaration that the agreement to sell and acquire the land is invalid, among others.

They - Chik Chan Chee @ Cheok Chan Chee, Cheok Choon Yoong, Ling (Liang) Ah Chai, Chang Moy @ Chan Kwai Lan, Wong Ah Kee @ Wong Gin Chin, Koo Seng Hiew and Tiew Choo Seng @ Chang Choo Chew - have named the vendors and Grand Prestige as defendants.

Mah Sing said it was currently seeking legal advice and would decide on its next course of action.

On Aug 11, 2014, Grand Prestige had entered into an agreement to buy the 960-acre prime freehold land in Seremban for RM359.56mil in cash.

The vendors were Poh Yong Cak, Lim Kim Chong and Sam Chien Kiong @ Sam Choy Cheong, said in Mah Sing’s first announcement on the land purchase to be “the surviving trustees appointed by all the registered and beneficial owners of the land to be their sole and absolute trustees.” 

In the Mah Sing group’s first foray into Negri Sembilan, the plan was to develop a gated guarded lifestyle township with a potential GDV of RM7.5bil. The project was expected to be developed over a span of seven to eight years.

Mah Sing had said it was confident to replicate the success of its Southville City @ KL South with the land, whose acquisition was initially expected to be completed in the first half of 2015.

Two weeks after the initial announcement on the land purchase to Bursa Malaysia, Mah Sing announced that Grand Prestige’s solicitors conducted a land search on the land on Aug 15, 2014, and discovered that there was a caveat notice of interest in land lodged on Aug 8, 2014.