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KUALA LUMPUR: The Malaysian owners of the University of Nottingham are weighing a sale that could value the education provider at roughly RM500 million, according to people with knowledge of the matter.
Boustead Holdings Bhd, which has interests in finance, plantations and properties, is working with an advisor on the planned sale of its majority stake in the British university’s offshore campus, said the people who asked not to be identified because the process is private. .
They said that YTL Corp, which also has a stake in the learning institution, can accompany them on the way out.
Boustead owns about 66% of the university, while YTL and the University of Nottingham own about 4% and 30%, respectively, they said.
The partnership between the three parties was formally announced in 1998 following an invitation from the education ministry to establish a campus abroad. The University of Nottingham, one of the first branch campuses of British universities established outside the UK, welcomed its first students in September 2000.
The university has a 50ha campus in Semenyih, about 30 km from Kuala Lumpur, as well as a teaching site in the country’s capital. The educational center, which offers entry-level courses through doctoral degrees, has around 5,000 students from more than 85 countries.
Deliberations are still early and there is no certainty that Boustead and YTL will proceed with the deal, the people said.
YTL Chief Executive Francis Yeoh declined to comment, while representatives for Boustead and the University of Nottingham Malaysia did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
