Berjaya Corp's new 3-year plan sees reorganisation of 5 core biz segments

Berjaya Corporation (BCorp) has rolled out a three-year strategic plan to transform the existing conglomerate into a consumer group with focused core business segments. Each segment will be led by respective sector heads who will report to group CEO Jalil Rasheed. BCorp operates brands such as 7-Eleven, Starbucks and Berjaya Hotels and Resorts and Jalil was appointed to his role on 16 March, replacing Robin Tan who was redesignated as the company's executive deputy chairman. He is the first "non-family member" to lead BCorp.

The five business segments will be reorganised as follows:

1. Retail - consumer marketing and distribution
2. Food and beverage - food franchises and food trading
3. Property - property development, investment properties and affordable housing
4. Hospitality - hotels and resorts, recreation clubs
5. Services - gaming, environment, digital services, financial technology

This reorganisation will see BCorp, as the holding company, led by Jalil and a senior leadership team, and the operating companies taking on the operational and administrative functions. According to the group, the strategic plan will anchor around five key pillars: profitability, governance, process, people, and digital to drive operational efficiency and execution.

BCorp hopes to achieve the five key pillars through four key initiatives: streamline, improve, restructure and establish. Under the streamlining initiative, BCorp will identify sub-segments and countries it wants to be in, divest non-core businesses and merge overlapping businesses. It will also carry out succession planning to develop a talent pipeline amongst management-level staff, as well as create a self-sustainable business model within the core business segments.

At the same time, BCorp will also reassess existing operating models to realign with strategic objectives and establish a management committee and business committee, among others. Overall, BCorp said it plans to make divestments worth RM2 billion over two years and RM5 billion over five years. It also aims to reduce BCorp's debt level from RM5 billion to RM2.5 billion over three years. A+M has reached out to Berjaya for more information. 

According to Jalil, the new plan will “better optimise BCorp's resources, improve synergies and efficiency within the group, and enhance corporate governance and transparency". He added that the new plan also aims to transform BCorp into a high performing organisation by addressing the gaps in the group while enhancing its strengths. 

The latest reorganisation comes about a month after the plans were first reported in May. According to Bloomberg which quoted Jalil previously, he said he plans to "reorganise certain aspects of the business". Shortly after Jalil was appointed, BCorp's executive chairman Vincent Tan officially resigned from his position on 5 April in line with his vision to transform the group into an institutionalised corporation managed by professionals. Tan remains on the company's board of directors and non-executive chairman.

In a previous interview with StarBizWeek, Tan said he wishes to have "professional managers" run the listed businesses under BCorp and have none of his children involved in them. He added that while his children can start their own businesses, there needs to be a clear line drawn between listed and private businesses.

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