Tanjong said to sell gaming unit for RM2b

by **hlk** Tue 02 Aug 2011, 16:51

Tanjong Plc agreed to sell its gaming unit to a group of Malaysian businessmen including Genting Bhd chairman Lim Kok Thay for RM2.1 billion (US$710 million), according to two people with knowledge of the matter.

Hong Leong Financial Group Bhd chairman Quek Leng Chan, Lion Corp chairman William Cheng and businessman Chua Ma Yu are also part of the group, said the people, who declined to be identified because they aren’t authorized to discuss the deal. A preliminary agreement was signed yesterday to sell the unit, Pan Malaysian Pools Sdn Bhd, they said.

The acquisition would give the buyers control over a numbers-forecasting business and a monopoly over horse race betting in the Southeast Asian nation. The deal comes a year after a group led by billionaire T. Ananda Krishnan offered RM4.7 billion for full control of Tanjong.

Lion’s Cheng is away overseas and couldn’t immediately comment, according to his secretary. The other buyers either declined to comment on the purchase or didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment. Tanjong chief financial officer Gerard Nathan declined to comment.

Pan Malaysian Pools was Tanjong’s second-biggest revenue source, contributing RM721.4 million last year, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Tanjong’s biggest business is power generation, with investments in markets including the Middle East, South and Southeast Asia and North Africa, according to its website.

The sale of Pan Malaysian Pools was earlier reported by the Edge Financial Daily today. Pan Malaysian Pools may be listed later and the group has pledged to set aside some of the profits from Pan Malaysian Pools for charitable causes, the Edge reported.

Ananda Krishnan, who holds a majority stake in mobile-phone operator Maxis Bhd, delisted Measat Global Bhd along with Tanjong and pay-TV broadcaster Astro All Asia Networks Plc last year. Last month, he raised $888 million from the initial public offering of Bumi Armada Bhd, the country’s biggest supplier of support vessels for the oil and gas industry. -- Bloomberg