MyNews parent plans 150 new stores

Malaysian convenience store operator Bison Consolidated plans to use the proceeds of an IPO to fund 150 new store openings by 2017.

Bison currently has 237 newsstands and convenience stores under its brands, which include myNews, Newsplus, MagBit and The Front Page. It also runs WHSmith outlets in Malaysia, in a joint venture with UK’s WH Smith Plc.

“It has always been our plan to expand our network of stores. With the proceeds raised from the initial public offering (IPO), certainly we will make use of it to expedite our expansion plan,” Bison founder and MD Dang Tai Luk told The Edge Financial Daily.

Bison recorded a 15.5 per cent revenue increase last financial year to RM182.41 million (US$42.17 million) as its store network continued to grow. It currently claims 8.6 per cent of the convenience store market by network numbers and 8.3 per cent by revenue. 7-Eleven is the dominant convenience store brand in Malaysia with 1900 franchised stores.

In the company’s draft prospectus, Bison says it will invest 45 per cent of the proceeds of the float in network expansion, but has not yet put a price on its shares.

The company owns all its own stores – it does not franchise.