Friday, Oct 19, 2007
KUALA LUMPUR (Dow Jones)--Tesco Stores (M) Sdn. Bhd., a joint venture between local conglomerate Sime Darby Bhd. (4197.KU) and U.K. retailer Tesco PLC (TSCO.LN) will open books Oct. 23 for its proposed MYR3.5 billion commercial paper and medium-term notes program, a senior executive told Dow Jones Newswires Friday.
"We're going to have an investors' conference on Tuesday and books will open then," said Azlam Shah Alias, Tesco Stores' director of corporate and legal affairs.
The program, which will be both conventional and Islamic, will fund Tesco Stores' plans for expansion in the country from its current 18 outlets.
"We haven't made any decision on the breakdown of the issuances yet," which will have tenors of up to 15 years, he said.
Standard Chartered Bank Malaysia Bhd. and CIMB Investment Bank Bhd. are the arrangers for the program.
Tesco Stores is a 70:30 joint venture between Tesco PLC and Sime Darby.
-By E-Ling Liaw, Dow Jones Newswires; (603) 2692 5254, e-ling.liaw@dowjones.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
19-10-07 0353GMT
