China Railway Engineering Corp (CREC) and local partner Iskandar Waterfront Holdings (IWH) will not take an equity stake in the vast Bandar Malaysia development in Kuala Lumpur. The partners originally planned to take equity stakes, but the deal has fallen through. The project will be 100% controlled by the Malaysian Finance Ministry.

In early May, TRX City said in a statement that despite repeated extensions, CREC and IWH failed to meet the payment obligations under the agreement signed on December 31 2015. “As a result, the Share Sale Agreement between the parties stands null and void with immediate effect,” it said.

TRX City’s sole shareholder, the Finance Ministry, will now be retaining 100% ownership of the site. TRX City was taken over by the Finance Ministry from the scandal-ridden 1MBD fund.

The statement added that TRX City would immediately be inviting expressions of interest for the role of master developer of Bandar Malaysia, with full ownership being preserved by the Finance Ministry, adding that “the selection process will involve very strict criteria, including track record, speed of delivery and financial capability for such a large-scale development.”

The Bandar Malaysia project includes a terminus for the planned high-speed rail line to Singapore, as well as connections to existing rail lines. The commercial property element is extremely valuable because of its proximity to the high-speed rail terminus. Bandar Malaysia is the largest development project currently planned in Malaysia.