Berjaya Land sells entire stake in Intercontinental Hanoi for RM222m

KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 29): Berjaya Land Bhd said yesterday it plans to divest its entire stake in TPC Nghi Tam Village Ltd (TPC Village), which operates the five-star Intercontinental Hanoi West Lake Hotel, for 1,244.59 billion Vietnamese dong or RM222.18 million.

In a statement to Bursa Malaysia, Berjaya Land said the proposed disposal of its stake in the TPC Village joint venture will result in an estimated gain of about RM192.33 million. It had invested 686.88 billion Vietnamese dong (or approximately RM122.62 million) in the JV to date.

Berjaya Land's wholly-owned subsidiary, TPC Development, owns 75% in TPC Village, while the remaining 25% is held by Vietnam-based Thang Long GTC joint stock company.

Berjaya Land's statement came on the heels of an announcement by Berjaya Group chairman Tan Sri Vincent Tan on Dec 19 that he will be restructuring his business empire, which might involve the sale of assets, privatising two companies — 7-Eleven Malaysia Holdings Bhd and Berjaya Land — as well as the listing of the group's hotel business in Singapore.

He had also said his flagship Berjaya Corp Bhd may carve out the hotel assets from Berjaya Land, in which it controls a 70.32% stake, and float the assets in Singapore. Berjaya Land would then be taken private.

Meanwhile, according to Berjaya Land's announcement yesterday, TPC Development had, on Dec 25 and Dec 27, inked a deposit agreement and a capital transfer agreement to dispose of the stake to real estate firm Hanoi Hotel Tourism Development LLC.

Under the deal, Berjaya Land will sell its entire transfer capital contribution in TPC Village representing 75% of the paid-up charter capital, for RM222.18 million. Additionally, all amounts owed by TPC Village to TPC Development totalling US$71.63 million (or about RM298.2 million) will be fully settled by TPC Village.

The proposed disposal is expected to be completed by the first half of next year. Proceeds from the proposed disposal have been earmarked for Berjaya Land's working capital, the filing read.

Shares in Berjaya Land closed one sen or 2.44% higher at 21 sen yesterday, for a market capitalisation of RM1.05 billion. The stock has lost over 40% of its value from the start of this year.  — theedgemarkets.com

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