Malaysia, Vietnam university owners are said to weigh stake sale

THE family behind Taylor’s Education Group is exploring the sale of a minority stake in a unit that owns private universities in Malaysia and Vietnam, according to people with knowledge of the matter.

The Loy family is working with a financial adviser on the potential stake sale in the unit, which comprises Taylor’s University in Malaysia and British University in Vietnam (BUV), the people said. A transaction could value the business at about US$400 million, the people said, asking not to be identified as the process is private.

The family controls Taylor’s Education Group, a provider of schools, colleges and universities with over 22,000 students in Malaysia, Singapore and Vietnam, according to its website. Headed by family patriarch and group executive chairman Loy Teik Ngan, its offerings include everything from nursery to postgraduate studies and hotel management training, the website shows.

Deliberations are ongoing and there is no guarantee that the Loy family will proceed with the stake sale, the people said. Representatives for the Loy family and Taylor’s Education Group didn’t immediately respond to requests for comment.

Established in 2009, BUV grants degrees from the UK’s University of London and Staffordshire University to its students in Vietnam, the university’s website shows. It has 11 undergraduate programmes and a masters of business administration degree.

Taylor’s University was founded in 1969 and offers undergraduate and postgraduate in-person programmes at its campus in Subang Jaya, outside Kuala Lumpur, according to its website. It also provides online postgraduate programmes in business, computer science, education and hospitality. BLOOMBERG