The corporate headquarters of Telekom Malaysia (TM) in Bangsar, Menara TM is now on sale according to an ad in today’s edition of The Star. It was put up by WTW Real Estate who has also published a similar notice on its website.
In the ad, the real estate company said that the 55-storey building which was officially opened in 2003 is being sold via expression of interest. While it did not mention the actual price of the building, we have discovered an old listing on iProperty.com that includes an RM700 million price tag on Menara TM.
Some may not know this but Menara TM actually does not belong to the telco even though the building bears its name as the company has actually sold it through an Islamic sale & leaseback arrangement back in 2008. Aside from Menara TM, the program which was valued at RM1 billion also covered TM Semarak (the old Menara Celcom), TM Taman Desa, and TM Cyberjaya Complex.
According to a report by RAM Ratings in July 2021, TM has decided not to reacquire any of these properties which may explain why Menara TM has been put on sale in the open market. In the same report, RAM Ratings has also pointed out that TM’s master lease will expire in January 2023.
Meanwhile, TM has since released a statement in response to the ad:
TM would like to clarify that the Company is a tenant of Menara TM, located at Jalan Pantai Baharu, Kuala Lumpur. TM does not own the said building, and is not involved with its intended sale by the property’s owner, Menara ABS Bhd.
The Company is currently in the process of relocating the majority of its corporate offices into its TM-owned properties, including TM Annexe 1 and TM Annexe 2 as well as its properties in Cyberjaya, as part of the Company’s optimisation programme to enable greater efficiency and agility, and to accommodate hybrid working conditions.
The statement seemed rather odd to us though as TM Annexe 1 and 2 which are located just across Menara TM were actually put on sale in 2019. Furthermore, it also seemed to indicate that Menara TM’s status as the telco’s corporate headquarters may be over soon since the statement noted that the company has begun to move most of its corporate offices away from the building.
