KUB weighs partnership proposals

KUALA LUMPUR: Three private equity firms, including foreign ones, are "very" keen to partner KUB Malaysia Bhd and acquire stakes in the A&W fast-food chain.

KUB group managing director Datuk Mohd Nazar Samad said the company is evaluating proposals from the firms and expects to announce its strategic partner by the year-end.

"We are talking to a few. There are few who are interested but two or three of them are very interested. They want to remain anynomous.

"We hope to finalise the deal within this year," he told reporters on the sidelines of KUB's Hari Raya open house here yesterday.

Asked whether KUB wants to dispose of 49 per cent or more of its stake in A&W, Mohd Nazar said there is no specific portion.

He added that KUB is seeking partner or partners with good money and management skills.

"We are looking for private equity firms that not only can assist us financially but also has international expertise," he said.

Earlier reports said that KUB was willing to sell as much as 45 per cent of A&W stake to a strategic partner to take the business to greater heights.

KUB is the licensee of A&W in Thailand and Malaysia since 2002.

It currently has 45 outlets in Malaysia and 43 in Thailand. It plans to increase the number to 100 each in Thailand and Malaysia by 2015.

Mohd Nazar denied that QSR Brands Bhd, the parent company of KFC Holdings (M) Bhd, had expressed interest in taking over A&W.

"This, for sure I can say, there is no such proposal. If there is, I don't think we would want to consider it," he said.

On the RM1.23 billion intra-city commuter train service network in Johor, Mohd Nazar said the company would give an update on the project once it presents the proposal to the Economic Council.

"It's going to be a long queue. So we can wait (to make the presentation) until next year," he said.

It was reported that the Johor state government had given the approval for the intra-city commuter train service network project to Metropolitan Commuter Network Sdn Bhd (MCN),a joint-venture company between KUB and Malaysia Steel Works (KL) Bhd.

MCN had proposed to the fe-deral government the construction and operation of a rail transit network in Iskandar Malaysia in Johor, with services extending from Johor Baru Sentral to Woodlands, Singapore.

The intra-city train service entails the building of seven stations and 16 halts connecting all major suburbs in Iskandar Malaysia, which covers south Johor.