KUALA LUMPUR (May 16): Berjaya Group Bhd (BGroup) disposed of 6 million shares in Berjaya Sports Toto Bhd (BToto) via its 100% equity interest in Bizurai Bijak (M) Sdn Bhd for a total cash consideration of RM17.7 million or an average selling price of RM2.95 per share.

In a separate filing with Bursa Malaysia today, Berjaya Land Bhd (BLand) announced the disposal of 5.2 million shares or a 0.39% stake in BToto for a total cash consideration of RM15.34 million or an average selling price of RM2.95 per share.

As BGroup is the intermediate holding company of BLand, the total number of BToto shares disposed of by BGroup was 11.2 million shares.

In the filing with Bursa, Bland said the net cash proceeds from the disposals will be utilised as working capital and repayment of bank borrowings of the BLand Group.

BLand and its unlisted subsidiaries hold a total of 548.88 million BToto shares, representing 40.72% equity interest in BToto following the disposals.

BLand together with its intermediate holding company, BGroup, hold a total of approximately 620.3 million BToto shares, representing a 44.89% stake, while the holding company, Berjaya Corporation Bhd (BCorp), and its unlisted subsidiaries hold a total of approximately 664.4 million BToto shares, representing a 46% stake.

According to Bland's filing with Bursa, the shares that were disposed of, which were purchased since 1992, have a total carrying value of about RM18.1 million or an average of RM3.48 per BToto share, thus resulting in a net loss of about RM2.76 million from the disposal of the shares held by BLand.

As of closing today, BToto rose two sen or 0.66% to RM3.05 with 477,200 shares changing hands, while BLand was unchanged at 70 sen. BCorp closed 0.5 sen or 1.35% lower at 36.5 sen with 4.57 million shares traded.