KUALA LUMPUR: Berjaya Corp Bhd (BCorp) is looking at selling selected assets especially hotels abroad to fund various projects in the pipeline.
BCorp founder and executive chairman Tan Sri Vincent Tan said logically, it could not keep so many assets in order to manage its debt-to-equity ratio.
The potential asset disposals would also make its creditors “comfortable”, Tan added.
“It doesn’t matter whether it’s a trophy asset or not, as long as the profit is good, we will sell them. Everything is for sale at the right prices, except family,” he said at a press conference after the signing ceremony between Berjaya Okinawa Development Co. Ltd and Four Seasons Hotels and Resorts Asia Pacific Pte Ltd here, yesterday.
BCorp reportedly had planned to carve out its group hotel business from Berjaya Land Bhd and list it in Singapore Stock Exchange.
The initiative would involve several Berjaya Group’s hotels abroad such as Japan. The group also owns hotels in Vietnam, the UK, the Philippines, Seychelles and Sri Lanka.
Tan said BCorp would most probably retain its hotels in Malaysia.
“We are looking at listing our hotels business but have yet to finalise the decision because we have some minority partners that we are still in talk to,” he said.
Tan said the group would likely sell its Four Seasons Hotel and Hotel Residences Kyoto in Japan in the next three months.
It was learnt the divestment could potentially worth US$400 million.
“We are still talking to several parties. We hope to get the best ‘high’ price as it is a ‘trophy asset’. Potential buyers better pay more for the price,” he said.
The group’s Four Seasons Hotel in Kyoto is touted as the best hotel in and Kyoto and at least top three in Japan, and boasts an average rate of US$1,500 per night.
Tan said BCorp could also use the same business template for its Four Seasons Resort and Private Residences in Okinawa, Japan, which iscurrently under construction.
He said it was still early for the group to decide but reckoned the new Okinawa hotel could potentially be sold in the future.
“We have 100-acre land in Okinawa. Of the total, 30-acre will be used to build the Four Seasons Hotels and Residents.
“We still have the remaining 70-acre for future’s development. Okinawa is a good market as we can further develop our landbank such as flr shopping mall, residents and three-four star hotels that still can get the sea view,” he said.
On the Brexit’s progress in the United Kingdom (UK), Tan said the overall deal did not seem to be very good economically.
“It showed that properties prices have gone down. The UK is divided over Brexit. Maybe there is an opportunity to buy, but it is just a matter of taking the risk,” he said.
Tan said Brexit would not affect Berjaya Group’s auto business through HR Owen Plc in the UK, which sells luxury marques such as Rolls-Royce, Bentley, Aston Martin, Ferrari and Lamborghini.
“We will not be affected. Fortunately, we only sell luxury cars. There’s no recession when customers want to buy luxury goods like Hermes handbags,” he said, adding that HR Owen had been recording healthy profits.
The world’s largest Ferrari, Lamborghini and Bentley dealer HR Owen’s profit had doubled last year to £6 million on £423 million revenue.
The performance was boosted by cost cutting under new ownership and buoyant spending by super-wealthy customers.
“Our HR Owen business is doing better and will not be affected. We have better management,” Tan said.
In late 2016, HR Owen was delisted following a takeover by Berjaya Group, which had decided to buy the group after receiving poor treatment in one of its Rolls-Royce dealerships.
Last year, HR Owen was named 2018’s Rolls-Royce Global Dealer of the Year. The accolade was based on key performance indicators across the entire business and not just car sales.
“It is measured by Rolls-Royce headquarters continuously throughout the year,” said HR Owen in a statement.
The automotive company said dealer KPIs were measured and monitored by Rolls-Royce across all business disciplines including sales, service, marketing and parts supply.
