KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 23 — KLCC Property Holdings Berhad (KLCCP) has today denied news reports claiming that it is buying the Bandar Malaysia land for over RM10 billion.

"KLCCP wishes to inform that we are not a party to this transaction. We are not the buyer as reported,” it said in a brief statement.

This comes as financial news The Edge reported that KLCCP is buying the 486-acre land in two tranches from Bandar Malaysia Sdn Bhd (BMSB), as the latter needs to meet debt obligations.

The report claimed that BMSB’s audited balance sheet showed that it had RM993 million in borrowings and RM2.8 billion in amount owing to its immediate holding company TRX City Sdn Bhd.

KLCCP and KLCC Real Estate Investment Trust — which it manages — are collectively known as the KLCCP Stapled Group.

The group owns among others the Petronas Twin Towers, Suria KLCC, and Mandarin Oriental Kuala Lumpur.

Separately, theme park operator Sim Leisure Group Ltd filed to the Singapore Exchange that its agreement with BMSB had been terminated.

The Singapore-based firm, through its subsidiary Sim Leisure Escape Sdn Bhd, agreed last year to develop, construct, operate and maintain an Escape theme park on the Bandar Malaysia land.

The original plan was for the theme park to take up 75 acres of the land on a 15-year lease.

Due to the end of the agreement, BMSB needs to pay Sim Leisure back in RM350,000 security deposit and RM1 million advance payment.

Bandar Malaysia is a large-scale development project located in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, aimed at becoming a mixed-use urban hub with residential, commercial, and transit-oriented facilities.

The site was originally used as the Sungai Besi Air Base, a military airbase before it was decommissioned for redevelopment.