Hamdan plan for Ranhill in private

RANHILL Bhd, Malaysia's largest engineering group, could be the next target for a privatisation plan by president and chief executive Tan Sri Hamdan Mohamad, company sources said.Business Times understands that Hamdan is mulling plans to take the group private and later re-list the shares in London, Dubai or India, to command a higher valuation.A source said Hamdan may also opt to take Ranhill Utilities Bhd (RUB) private, after announcing a similar plan for Ranhill Power Bhd (RPB) in September.Ranhill announced plans to take RPB private by buying the rest of its shares for RM35.4 million or RM2.15 apiece, and consolidating the power company under the group to maximise returns."Ranhill is looking at various options to boost earnings and add value. It may take RUB private and re-list the company overseas, or seek a dual listing for its own operation. The plan is still preliminary," the source said. The source said Hamdan could also be testing the waters while his actual game plan is unclear.Neither Hamdan nor Ranhill executive director Datuk Chandrasekar Suppiah were available for comment.Ranhill now has a RM16 billion order book for engineering, procurement, commission and construction work under its belt, which will last it another seven years. About 85 per cent of the orders are from overseas.Business Times had reported early this month that Ranhill is planning to double revenue to more than RM3 billion by 2012, by bidding for infrastructure and construction jobs in Malaysia, India and Libya.For the 12 months to June 2007, Ranhill achieved a profit of RM117 million and RM1.47 billion in revenue.Bursa Malaysia Bhd chief executive officer Datuk Yusli Mohamed Yusoff recently said more companies may be taken private or listed elsewhere if the local stock exchange is not corrected."It's very hard to explain why a Malaysian company listed here commands a certain valuation, but if it was listed in another market it can command a higher valuation - when essentially the company is the same," he had remarked.-www.btimes.com.my