KUALA LUMPUR: Malayan United Industries Bhd (MUI Bhd) will explore hotel management and other hospitality-related businesses or assets despite having sold Corus Hotel KLCC located along Jalan Ampang here.
At its extraordinary general meeting (EGM) today, shareholders approved the sale of the four-star hotel previously known as Ming Court Hotel to Suria Lagenda Development Sdn Bhd, an indirect subsidiary of Mah Sing Group Bhd, for RM260 million cash.
This averages out to about RM670,000 per room for the 388-room hotel, or RM4,019 per sq ft for the 0.6-hectare (1.485 acres) it sits on. Serviced apartments are being planned for the site.
MUI Bhd chairman and chief executive officer Andrew Khoo Boo Yeow told Bernama after the EGM that the sale will monetise the property to help pare down debts.
Khoo took over his father, Tan Sri Khoo Kay Peng’s business empire seven years ago.
According to its shareholders’ circular seeking their approval for the proposed hotel disposal, MUI Bhd has debts of over RM905 million with interest ranging from 4.51 per cent to 11.75 per cent.
“We will leverage our expertise in hotel operations in advisory and management roles. Opportunities in Asia are quite far-reaching in the sense that there is potential,” he said.
Khoo said there are not many third-party hotel management companies in Asia.
He noted that this is the trend in the West and Asia. This is where Immersive Hospitality Management (IHM), set up some time ago in the United Kingdom (UK), comes in. IHM has operations in Europe, especially in London. It will focus on Malaysia and Singapore in Southeast Asia, he said.
According to the company’s 2025 annual report, Corus Hotel Hyde Park London is undergoing refurbishment and will be part of a Marriott Tribute property after its nine-month renovation in August 2026. IHM will operate it after its rebranding exercise.
He said the group is at a crossroads, and it is taking this asset-light model strategy. Exiting Corus Hotel KLCC does not mean we are exiting the hotel business.
“We will strengthen our relationship with hotel owners, asset owners and sign up to be their official operators. Global brands will need certain expertise on the ground,” Khoo said.
The group’s four core business activities are retailing, hotel, fast food chain, and property. It has been divesting assets for the last couple of years.
A joint-venture between Chin Teck Plantations Bhd and MUI Properties, in which MUI Bhd has a 72.27 per cent stake, sold about 157.7 hectares (389.7 acres) of land near Port Dickson to Gamuda Bhd for RM424.4 million in December 2024, to be developed into a data centre.
MUI Bhd sold a 65.90 per cent stake in Pan Malaysia Holdings via its subsidiaries in March 2024 for RM36.73 million.
Also in fiscal 2024, it sold 85 per cent equity interest in Network Foods International Ltd and its subsidiaries, excluding Network Foods (Hong Kong) Ltd, for about RM24 million.
MUI Bhd sold The Regency Hotel and Belsfield Hotel, both UK-based, in 2021 and 2022 respectively.
Its hotel portfolio now includes Corus Hotel Hyde Park, London and Burnham Beeches Hotel, Slough according to its 2025 annual report.
MUI Bhd recorded a loss after tax (LAT) of RM70.89 million for the financial year ended June 30, 2025 versus LAT of RM166.82 million a year ago.
