The Star Online  Saturday, 4 February 2017   
Top 40 richest in Malaysia: 16-20

19 TAN SRI VINCENT TAN
Flagship: Berjaya Group
Net worth: RM2.6bil

TAN saw a dip of 18.2% in his net worth in 2016 but that did not deter the tycoon from doing what he does best, which is making deals.

In 2016, Tan sold the McDonald’s franchise, consisting of 390 outlets in Malaysia and Singapore, to Saudi Arabia’s Lionhorn Pte Ltd for US$400mil. More than 80% of those 390 restaurants were owned by McDonalds Malaysia. The McDonalds franchise has been a prized possession for Tan as it was one of his first successful business ventures.

But Tan has maintained that everything can be sold for the right price and throughout his career, that has been a hallmark of his business empire.

Last year, Tan sold 299.4 million shares in Berjaya Land to Berjaya Corp, and on a personal level, sold a 10.5% stake in the Store Corp. That year, he also sold a 4.5% stake in 7-Eleven Malaysia Holdings Bhd.

During the year, the share price of MOL fell 78% to US 15 cents from US 69 cents.

Despite the gyrations in the value of his shareholdings, Tan seems re-energised in his business career after seemingly signalling he was going to take a lesser role in the running of his business empire.

During a trip to Kyoto, Japan to open the Four Seasons Hotel and Hotel Residences, Tan spoke about the potential of some of his businesses. He seemed passionate about the prospects of the Berjaya Corp’s lottery business in Vietnam.

According to a report, the unit, which has an 18-year exclusive right to operate a computerised lottery in Vietnam, has seen its sales revenue increased 4.6 times in less than two months. Its revenue as of Nov 20 was US$32.1mil.

“Sales have far surpassed our expectations. We only launched one jackpot. We are going to launch 10 to 12 games and it is going to be fantastic,” he said in a report recently.

Tan also feels that his fledgling lottery business in Vietnam can become much bigger than the cash cow of his business empire, which is Berjaya Sports Toto Bhd. He says the complexity of his business group prevents many from analysing accurately the different types of businesses within the group

“But not many people understand it. We are pretty relaxed (about it),” says Tan about the lack of awareness about the potential of the lottery business in Vietnam.

One company that might add to the value of Tan’s wealth is that of mobile phone operator U-Mobile. It is thought that U-Mobile might be ready for a listing on Bursa Malaysia this year and depending on the valuations it can fetch, such a listing might very well increase the wealth of Tan for next year’s instalment of the richest Malaysians.

Read more at http://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news