KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 14): Malaysian Resources Corp Bhd (MRCB) has received indication of interest from two parties in relation to the acquisition of the Eastern Dispersal Link (EDL) Expressway in Johor.

The two parties, according to the construction outfit, are PLUS Malaysia Bhd and a client of ZJ Advisory Sdn Bhd.

"The company has received two indications of interest from PLUS Malaysia Bhd and ZJ Advisory Sdn Bhd's client to acquire our equity interest in MRCB Lingkaran Selatan Sdn Bhd," said MRCB.

MRCB Lingkaran Selatan is the concession holder of the EDL.

"We will make the necessary announcement as and when the terms of the proposed disposal have been finalised," it added.

MRCB chief corporate officer Amarjit Chhina had earlier said the group is actively looking at all options to dispose of the EDL and remove it from its balance sheet.

"We talk to many different people on how to resolve [the situation]," he told reporters after a signing ceremony in August this year.

"EDL is something we don't regard as core business and our intention is still to take it off our balance sheet. It accounts for 36% of our debt," he said.

He added that taking out EDL would probably see its gearing fall to 0.5 times.

EDL is an 8.1km expressway that connects the end of the North-South Expressway (NSE) at Pandan Interchange to the new Bangunan Sultan Iskandar, Custom, Immigration and Quarantine (CIQ) in the city centre.

The RM1.27 billion project will act as a bypass to CIQ complex without using Jalan Tebrau (Federal Route) to the city centre.

The EDL expressway concession was awarded to MRCB Lingkaran Selatan on June 26, 2007 to design, construct, operate and maintain the highway.

THe EDL is the first fully private sector funded highway.

EDL is part of the JB Master Plan and is linked with the Iskandar Malaysia project to propel the region into a modern economic powerhouse.

Shares in MRCB closed up two sen or 1.54% at RM1.32, for a market value of RM2.72 billion