Vincent Tan plans listing of 7-Eleven

pub_date:Share sale could raise at least RM700m: reportMALAYSIA'S billionaire businessman Vincent Tan Chee Yioun is planning to list his 7-Eleven chain of convenience stores.儲存倉According to a Reuters report yesterday, Mr Tan, 61, has appointed Maybank Investment Bank and UBS as his advisers on the initial public offering (IPO).The report cited two sources with knowledge of the deal which could raise at least RM700 million (S$272 million).The deal could also raise some eyebrows.In 2010, the billionaire, ranked ninth richest person in Malaysia by Forbes magazine, folded both 7-Eleven and his Singer franchise into a company called Berjaya Retail and floated it on the stock exchange. Nine months later, however, the tycoon took it private because he was apparently frustrated with its undervaluation.Even so, the proposed IPO signals the fact that the Malaysian bourse is picking up steam after one of its best years ever last year and amid relative calm after a hotly contested general election.Last month, AirAsia X, a long-haul budget carrier, raised US$310 million in an IPO, and UMW Oil & Gas Corp will list in a month's time in what could be a RM2.4 billion float.The timing of Mr Tan's proposed IPO is undecided."Everything is still very preliminary," Reuters quoted one of its sources as saying. "And the listing could happen next year instead."The 7-Eleven network is Malaysia's single-largest convenience store chain with some 1,300 outlets serving over half a million customers a day迷你倉沙田It used to be unprofitable under its former owners - Antah Holdings - until Mr Tan bought it over in the 1990s and began expanding it at a rapid clip.It posted a net profit of RM36.7 million on revenues of RM1.3 billion in 2010, according to Reuters.The billionaire is the founder of Berjaya Corporation, which is involved in a wide array of businesses that includes golfing, property development, retail, autos, resorts, fast-food franchises and gambling in a sprawling conglomerate known as Berjaya Group.And although Mr Tan has five listed companies, he has a great many other private assets, both in Malaysia and countries such as India, Vietnam, China and the UK, many of them eminently qualified to go public.For example, it had been reported that Mr Tan was exploring an IPO of Welsh football club Cardiff City this year. The tycoon owns a 36.1 per cent interest in the club, which was elevated to the English Premier League this year, a vault that immediately increased its value.Manchester United recently listed on the New York Stock Exchange, raising US$233.2 million in the largest sports team IPO ever. It is now worth US$1.3 billion,Mr Tan could also list MOL Global, which is one of South-east Asia's largest Internet companies and which started Friendster, one of the first social media networks. Friendster is also part-owned by Facebook.All these listings could also be part of the billionaire's pledge to donate half of his wealth to charity and to reduce his group's borrowings.迷你倉價錢