KL firm may sell 20% of Bank Niaga stake
KL firm may sell 20% of Bank Niaga stake
KUALA LUMPUR (Bloomberg): Rashid Hussain Bhd., a Malaysian property and financial group, plans to sell its 20 percent stake in Indonesia's PT Bank Niaga to raise cash for its ailing businesses.
"I'm selling it off," Abdul Rashid Hussain, chairman of Rashid Hussain told reporters after an annual shareholders meeting on Wednesday.
He said he had approached new shareholders that bought 30 percent of the bank in September, though serious talks had yet to start.
Rashid Hussain bought the Bank Niaga stake in January 1997 for US$94.6 million.
Rashid Hussain joins scores of other large Malaysian companies forced to sell assets as Malaysia's first recession in 13 years bites. Rashid Hussain posted a loss of 936 million ringgit for the year ended June 30.
On Nov. 30, Abdul Rashid ceded control of Rashid Hussain to an investment arm of the Pahang state government in a stock swap. At the same, Malaysia's government injected up to 2.46 billion ringgit in capital into the Hussain banking unit RHB Capital Bhd.
Rashid Hussain shares rose 5 sen to 2.80 ringgit.
On Sept. 7, Indonesia's Tirtamas group, controlled by Hashim Djojohadikusumo, sold a 30 percent stake in PT Bank Niaga to repay debt. The placement was done through PT Lippo Securities with Deutsche Bank acting as a nominee for the institutional investors, who were not named.
Rashid, which sold an office tower to Bank Industri Malaysia Bhd. for 118.7 million ringgit ($31.2 million) in November 1996, also plans to sell off its two remaining office tower projects.
They form part of an entertainment, office and residential complex being developed by Rashid Hussain and Daewoo Corp. of South Korea. The development, located on a prime site in downtown Kuala Lumpur, is Rashid Hussain's flagship property project, called Vision City.
Abdul Rashid said the company will probably lose money selling the office properties in view of the slumping property market.
"I'm prepared to lose money," he said.