MULTI-PURPOSE Holdings Bhd (MPHB) will use cash from the privatisation of its gaming subsidiary Magnum Corp Bhd to venture into property development in a bigger way, its top official said.The move will provide the group with a new earnings stream as it seeks long-term growth, managing director Datuk Surin Upatkoon (pic) said.He said MPHB, which stands to get up to RM731 million from the privatisation exercise, already has two hectares of prime land along Jalan Sultan Ismail in Kuala Lumpur on which it is planning a commercial development.The group expects to obtain the planning approval for it by year-end. It also wants to increase its landbank in Malaysia and has the first right of refusal to buy land owned by Magnum."It's still premature to say how much of the proceeds we'll use for property development, (but) it'll be one of our core businesses and will start contributing to the group from 2009 onwards," Surin told reporters after shareholders gave their approval for the privatisation yesterday.The Magnum buyout, which MPHB is undertaking with global private equity firm CVC Capital Partners Asia III Ltd, is expected to be completed by June this year, he said.MPHB is now on the brink of a growth phase after successfully cutting debt to some RM200 million today from a peak of over RM2 billion about five to six years ago.
(New Straits Times 2-4-2008)
