Malaysian tycoon Vincent Tan is considering a Berjaya Food buyout

MALAYSIAN tycoon Vincent Tan is considering taking Kuala Lumpur-listed Berjaya Food private, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

Tan is in talks with banks about financing for a potential buyout deal for Berjaya Food, which owns 100 per cent of Starbucks’ Malaysian operations, said the people, asking not to be named as the matter is private.

Berjaya Food’s stock, which had lost more than a quarter of its value in the past year, jumped as much as 6.5 per cent after the Bloomberg News report, the biggest intraday gain since September.

Berjaya Corp, a company founded by Tan in 1984 and involved in the real estate, hotels and consumer sectors, has a deemed interest of 55 per cent in Berjaya Food, according to its latest available annual report.

Founded in 2009, Berjaya Food also runs brands including the Kenny Rogers Roasters chain of restaurants in Malaysia and Jollibean, a fresh soy milk operator.

As at Jun 30, 2023, Starbucks Malaysia had 393 stores nationwide while Kenny Rogers Roasters had 80 stores.

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Deliberations are preliminary and Tan could still decide against pursuing a go-private deal for Berjaya Food, the people said. Tan declined to comment, while representatives for Berjaya Food and Berjaya Corp did not respond to requests seeking comment. BLOOMBERG