Zul Rafique & Partners has advised a wholly owned subsidiary of Malaysian property developer Mah Sing Group on the proposed sale of around 32 hectares of freehold land in Southville City, Selangor state, for a data centre project.
Reports indicate Mah Sing subsidiary Southville City Sdn Bhd has sold the land to WG Malaysia X, a wholly owned subsidiary of Dayone Data Hub II, which is owned by Singapore-based data centre developer and operator DayOne, for MYR617.8 million (USD153.4 million).
Zul Rafique & Partners advised on issues relating to the development and delivery of the land, regulatory and planning approvals, and the detailed infrastructure, utilities and connectivity frameworks needed for the proposed development, including managing implementation milestones and transaction-specific arrangements. Partner May Ling Leong and senior legal associate Ju Ling Sia led the team.
“The regulatory and compliance aspects includes advising on the condition precedents to be fulfilled by the parties – such as the issuance of a new title for the subject land with updated title conditions, relevant PLANMalaysia (Department of Town and Country Planning) approval and Data Centre Task Force approval, planning permission and the requisite State Authority approval under the National Land Code (Revised 2020), as well as the contractual framework governing the related infrastructure and utility requirements,” Leong told Asia Business Law Journal.
Sia said it was essential to comply with all applicable laws and regulations while also keeping the transaction timetable in mind.
“A key highlight was structuring such a substantial land disposal alongside the regulatory, infrastructure and utility requirements of a large-scale data centre development, while ensuring that the parties’ commercial objectives were met and compliance with applicable laws/regulations was maintained. The transaction required careful co-ordination and timing of the relevant approval and development steps to fit within the overall transaction schedule requirements,” she said.
