Interest in DBE due to clean balance sheet

Also, QL Resources Bhd, the biggest producer of surimi, surimi-based products and fishmeal manufacturer in Malaysia, bought a 23.8 per cent stake in the Klang-based poultry company Lay Hong Bhd to help expand its own food business. The biggest privatisation of a food-cum-poultry producer, however, is s unfolding here, with the offer from Johor Corp Bhd and PE firm CVC Capital Partners Asia III Ltd to take QSR Brands Bhd and KFC Holdings Bhd, which also owns the poultry firm Ayamas Bhd private, in a deal valued at RM5.3 billion. There is interest in DBE because the company has cleaned up its balance sheet and debts over the past couple of years and is set to register its first full-year profit in six years for the year ended December 31 2011. Up to the nine months ended September 20 2011, DBE registered a net profit of RM1.194 million. In 2010, it suffered a net loss of RM3.71 million, while in 2009 and 2008, its net loss was at RM2.9 million and RM20.40 million respectively. Apart from the two bidders, Datuk Raymond Chan Boon Siew, the controlling stakeholder of Sagajuta (Sabah) Sdn Bhd, is also said to be interested in DBE. By Sharen Kaur