Malaysian tycoon draws 12 bids for $3B power asset sale

Malaysian tycoon Ananda Krishnan's sale of over $3 billion worth of power assets has attracted 12 initial bids with a final round of bidding expected by end of March.

According to the Star newspaper, three parties will be shortlisted for the final round, which will determine which bidder can shell out between $3.2 billion and $3.6 billion price tag.

If the sale goes beyond $3 billion, it will be the biggest power deal in southeast Asia.

The largest deal in the sector was struck in 2008 when Temasek Holdings sold its Singapore generation firm PowerSeraya to Malaysia's YTL Power in 2008 for $3.03 billion.

Malaysian bidders in the preliminary round included 1Malaysia Development Berhad, a government-owned strategic development company, and joint bid by the country's No.2 lender CIMB and the Employees Provident Fund, the Star said. Saudi Water & Electricity Co has so far made the highesyt bid of $3.60 billion.

Krishnan, reckoned by Forbes to have assets of $9.5 billion last year, owns his power assets through Tanjong Energy Group.

Tanjong Energy is wholly-owned by Tanjong Plc, which Krishnan took private in July 2010 in a deal valued at about $2.8 billion.

Tanjong Energy owns and operates eight power plants and has investments in five in Bangladesh, Egypt, Malaysia, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and the United Arab Emirates, with a total net generating capacity of 3,951 megawatts.

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