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Address: 11th Fl. Menara Berjaya, KL Plz. Kuala Lumpur 50250 Malaysia Telephone: 60 3 2935 8888 Fax: 60 3 2935 8043 Website: www.berjaya.com.my Advertise Here
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Public Company Incorporated: 1990 Employees: 24,000 Sales: MYR 7.7 billion ($1.9 billion) (2003) Stock Exchanges: Kuala Lumpur NAIC: 551112 Offices of Other Holding Companies; 517212 Cellular and Other Wireless Telecommunications; 622110 General Medical and Surgical Hospitals; 713990 All Other Amusement berjaya group?and Recreation Industries; 721110 Hotels (Except Casino Hotels) and Motels
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Mission: To generate consistently profitable returns for our shareholders from investments in core business activities: by providing direction, financial resources and management support for each operating unit; through establishing a major market presence of each activity; through dynamic and innovative management, teamwork and a commitment to excellence.
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1981: 1985: 1990: 1992: 1993: 1994: 1995: 1998: 2001: 2003: 2004:
Vincent Tan gains a franchise to open McDonald's restaurants in Malaysia. The Malaysian government privatizes Sports Toto, the state lottery, and sells 70 percent to Tan. Tan acquires full control of Sports Toto, and launches a new holding company, Berjaya Group. The company acquires Unza Malaysia and Manufacturing Services Sendirian Berhard (MSSB), establishing personal care products and other consumer products sales. The company acquires Roasters Grill Inc. in the United States. The company acquires Dunham-Bush, manufacturer of refrigeration and air conditioning systems. Tan launches construction of the Berjaya Times Square complex; the company joins in the launch of the Mutiara Swisscom mobile telephone service (later DiGi). The company acquires the Malaysian franchise for the Starbucks coffee shop operations. Berjaya restructures, and takes over 24 percent of DiGi. Berjaya acquires the Hyundai concession in Malaysia. Berjaya acquires 70 percent of organic food stores Country Farms; Tan joins in the launch of MiTV pay-television service.
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Company History:
Berjaya Group Bhd. is a major Malaysian conglomerate with holdings ranging from lottery and casino operations; hotel, resort development, and time-share development and management; mobile telephone services, through its holding in DiGi, the country's third largest; food and beverages, notably through its McDonald's, Starbucks, Roasters, 7-Eleven, and other franchises; motor vehicle sales through its Hyundai-Berjaya joint venture; the distribution of consumer goods and brands, including Cosway, Singer, and others; and the manufacturing and distribution of air conditioning, refrigeration, and related systems through subsidiary Dunham-Bush Malaysia, among others. The company is also a major real estate developer in Malaysia--the company's most recently completed project is the massive Berjaya Times Square complex, which, at more than 675,000 square meters of retail, entertainment, and leisure space, is the largest in the Asia Pacific region. Like many Asian conglomerates, Berjaya reflects the work of a single person--in Berjaya's case, the company's fortunes have been developed by Tan Sri Dato' Seri Vincent Tan Chee, who transformed the company from a tiny insurance agency to one of Malaysia's most powerful financial groups. In addition to his own dealings within the Berjaya Group, Tan also has a range of personal investments, such as his backing of Malaysia's second pay-TV service, MiTV, launched in October 2004. Berjaya Group is listed on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange. In 2003, the company posted revenues of MYR 7.7 billion ($1.9 billion). Deserving a Break in the 1980s Vincent Tan left school at the age of 16 and began his career as a bank clerk. Yet Tan quickly displayed an ambitious nature, and by the end of the 1960s had launched a second career selling insurance in the evenings. Tan's ability as a salesman soon won him a job as an agency supervisor for American International Insurance when he was just 21 years old. Toward the end of the 1970s, Tan decided to go into business on his own, founding what was to become one of Malaysia's--and the Asian Pacific region's--wealthiest business empires. Tan's initial business foray kept him close to the insurance industry. In the late 1970s, Tan set up a joint venture with Tokyo Marine & Fire Insurance. Insurance proved only a means to an end, however. In 1981, Tan scored another noteworthy business victory when he won the franchise to bring McDonald's fast food restaurants into Malaysia. By mid-decade, Tan had emerged as one of the country's fastestrising entrepreneurs. Part of Tan's success came through building a strong relationship with the government, particularly with longtime leader Mahathir Maohamad. Although this relationship raised questions at times, Tan acknowledged the importance of his link with Mahathir. As he told Fortune: "It's only prudent for a businessman to be friendly with the government of the day, but I'm not into politics and our companies are well run." The next phase in the development of the future Berjaya business empire came in 1985, when Tan convinced the Malaysian government to privatize the state-run Sports Toto lottery and turn over its operation to Berjaya. The government agreed, and Berjaya bought up 70 percent of the lottery, which had been founded in 1969 in order to raise funds for sports programs and other cultural activities. Sports Toto was listed on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange in 1987. In 1990, however, a restructuring of the lottery and gaming business gave Tan full control of that operation. Sports Toto was then placed into one of many Berjaya holding companies, Berjaya Land Berhad. At the same time, Tan and Berjaya were able to acquire a number of other Malaysian real estate and leisure activities. By the mid-1990s, Berjaya had emerged as a strong player in the country's hotel and resort vacation industry, with holdings including the Bukit Tinggi Resort complex. During this time, Tan made use of the strong cash flow from Sports Toto to begin building a diversified, and ever changing, conglomerate. The company entered a wide variety of industries, with holdings ranging from manufacturing to advertising to distribution and restaurants. An example of this effort was the company acquisition of a 48 percent stake in the Singer Sewing Machine Company's (SSMC) Malaysian subsidiary, acquired in 1985. Berjaya, which did not wish to limit itself to the Asian Pacific region, next targeted SSMC itself, launching a takeover bid for the well-known U.S. company. Although that bid failed, Berjaya was able to gain majority control of the Singer Malaysia operations. That stake was later placed under the holding company Cosway, established in 1998 as Berjaya's manufacturing and distribution arm. Malaysian Tycoon in the 1990s Cosway became one of Berjaya's main operating subsidiaries. In addition to the Singer business, Cosway developed its own "network-marketing" sales model, based on a multilevel sales model similar to that of Tupperware, Avon, and others. The company became a major Malaysian distributor of cosmetics, toiletries, and fashion jewelry, among other products. Cosway also distributed durable consumer goods, and by the beginning of the 2000s had expanded to include the distribution of audiovisual products, both in the retail and rental markets, including films and children's educational products. The Cosway holding was further expanded in 1992 with the purchase of the Unza Malaysia and Manufacturing Services Sendirian Berhard (MSSB), both manufacturers of personal care and household products, with a combined presence in more than 20 countries, including subsidiaries in Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam, Hong Kong, and China, and manufacturing operations in China and Vietnam. These operations, expanded with the purchase of Unza International Limited in 2000, were then placed on the Kuala Lumpur Main Board in 2000. The following year, Unza acquired two more companies, Gervas Corporation Sdn. Bhd. and Formapac Sdn. Bhd., the latter a contract manufacturer for the former's line of personal care products.
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Further Reading:
Ahmad, Baidura, "Another Feather in Berjaya's Cap," New Straits Time, October 2, 2003.
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