Berjaya expands car dealership

MANILA, Philippines - The local unit of Malaysian conglomerate Berjaya Corp. is expanding its car dealership business, this time investing in a British car distributor.

Berjaya Philippines Inc. spent more than P540 million to buy a minority stake in a British luxury car dealer, the company said in a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange.

“To date, Berjaya Philippines has acquired in total 7.04 million ordinary shares of stock constituting 29.81 percent of the total issued and fully paid shares of stock in H.R. Owen at an acquisition cost of approximately P540.36 million,” Berjaya Philippines said.

H.R. Owen, which is listed in the London Stock Exchange, operates a number of vehicle franchises in the prestige and specialist car market.

It is involved both sales and aftersales of brands like Aston Martin, Audi, Bentley, BMW, Bugatti, Ferrari, Lamborghini, Lotus, Maserati, Mini, Pagani and Rolls-Royce, predominantly in the London area.

“The said shares of stock were acquired for long term investment purposes as part of the issuer’s diversification exercise,” Berjaya Philippines said.

Berjaya Philippines said it bought the shares at prevailing market prices in the London bourse.

The listed company’s first venture into car dealership is through Mazda. It is the sole distributor of Mazda vehicles, parts and accessories in the Philippines.

Berjaya Philippines said the investment in H.R. Owen is “not expected to have any material effect on the consolidated net assets and earnings of the issuer for the current financial year ending April 2014.”

The local unit of the Malaysian conglomerate is diversifying its income source.

Last month, Berjaya Philippines bought 2.38 percent of the common shares, convertible debts and warrants of Redtone International Berhad, an information technology firm listed in the Kuala Lumpur stock exchange, for P275.68 million.

Berjaya said the shares were acquired for trading purposes to maximize unused funds.

In February, Berjaya Philippines spent more than $7.48 million to buy two percent of Atlan Holdings Berhad, a property firm and duty-free retailer in Malaysia. The listed company is also holding Atlan’s shares as a near term investment.

Locally, Berjaya Philippines supplies equipment for lottery operations in Luzon and owns the Berjaya Hotel in Makati. It also holds the local franchise for pizza restaurant Papa John’s.

Berjaya Philippines is looking to build more hotels in the country, including the luxury Four Seasons Hotel, and produce consumer goods in anticipation of higher consumption and tourism growth.