KUALA LUMPUR, Dec 28 – Perkasa called on Johor state investment arm JCorp today to ensure that its stake in QSR Brands and KFC Holdings continue to be held under Bumiputera control.
Perkasa deputy president Datuk Abdul Rahman Bakar named Felda and Tabung Haji as the suitable companies to buy over JCorp’s prized assets should it decide to proceed with sale in the future.
“Perkasa was glad with the statement by Johor mentri besar Datuk Abdul Ghani Othman and JCorp chairman that QSR Brands and KFC Holdings were not for sale,” Abdul Rahman told a press conference after a Perkasa economic bureau meeting here.
Yesterday JCorp president and chief executive officer, Kamaruzzaman Abu Kassim said QSR and KFC remained valuable and strategic assets for JCorp and they were not for sale.
JCorp owns 53 per cent of Kulim, which holds a 57.5 per cent stake in QSR. QSR, in turn, owns 50.6 per cent of KFC.
It has received two unsolicited bids to buy the company, both of which involved foreign private equity firms.
Local tycoon Tan Sri Halim Saad had made a bid for QSR together with private equity firm CVC Group before the Carlyle Group made a better offer worth RM1.94 billion.
QSR and KFC Holdings have been in the sights of foreign investors owing to their healthy returns and strong potential growth prospects in the region as well as in India’s under-served fast food market.
JCorp is saddled with debts totalling more than RM6 billion as of Dec 31, 2009, of which RM3.6 billion is due for repayment by the middle of 2012.
Kamaruzzaman, however, had said that JCorp has separate plans to address the debts by the first quarter of 2012.
In view of the debt, Perkasa called for a restructuring of JCorp’s management and all its subsidiaries.
“Perkasa welcomes any move by JCorp to restructure the management of JCorp and all its subsidiaries,” said Abdul Rahman.
“It is better that those who have caused JCorp to be burdened with huge debts are no longer allowed to hold any position in JCorp,” he added.
JCorp CEO Tan Sri Muhammad Ali Hashim, who helmed the corporation for 28 years, left last July and was replaced by Kamaruzzaman who has been with the group for 18 years. - Malaysian Insider
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