This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on April 30, 2019

KUALA LUMPUR: Malayan United Industries Bhd (MUI) has put its flagship Corus Hotel Hyde Park in London up for sale, a British daily reported yesterday.

The Times, without disclosing its source, said MUI has appointed investment bank Rothschild to advise it on the sale of the hotel, which is reported to be valued at about £200 million (RM1.07 billion). MUI Group and Rothschild declined to comment to The Times on the report.

The Edge Financial Daily had also reached out to MUI’s management for comment, but no response was received either.

The news led to MUI’s shares jumping 9% to 19 sen yesterday, for a market capitalisation of RM557 million.

Reports of a possible sale of MUI’s crown jewel hotel are not exactly new. In September 2014, The Edge Financial Daily reported that MUI was seeking to divest the hotel, which it acquired in 2001, for £200 million and had appointed Debutesq Group, a luxury real estate firm, for the sale. However, in an Oct 1, 2014 filing with Bursa Malaysia, MUI denied that it was selling the hotel, and had also denied the appointment of Debutesq.

The 388-room Hyde Park hotel carries a net book value of RM256.47 million, according to MUI’s 2018 annual report.

The MUI Group is under the leadership of its executive chairman Andrew Khoo Boo Yeow, the second son of tycoon Tan Sri Khoo Kay Peng.