Media Highlights : Baosteel said in talks to buy stake in Lion's Amsteel Mills, BCorp not selling Inter-Pac to Kim Eng, Petronas forgoes RM133bn to keep gas prices low, OldTown to raise RM79m from IPO, Dijaya Corp to unveil projects worth RM762m, K-Star orders up 57%, set to expand

Baosteel said in talks to buy stake in Lion’s Amsteel Mills
Baosteel Group, China’s second-biggest steelmaker, is in talks to buy a stake in a steel unit of Malaysia’s Lion Group for about USD1bn (RM3.03bn), said two people with knowledge of the matter. The size of the holding in Amsteel Mills to be sold has yet to be determined, one of the people said, declining to be identified because the negotiations are private. Chinese steel mills, the world’s biggest producers, need to target foreign markets to boosts sales because of domestic oversupply. Malaysia’s economy may expand 5%-6% this year after growing 7.2% in 2010, its central bank estimates.

BCorp not selling Inter-Pac to Kim Eng
Berjaya Corp is not selling its stock-broking arm Inter-Pac Securities to Kim Eng Holdings, which is now a subsidiary of Malayan Banking. An announcement to Bursa Malaysia yesterday stated that both BCorp and Kim Eng could not agree on the terms of the proposed disposal/acquisition of the entire stake in Inter-Pac. Hence the negotiations between both parties have discontinued. (Financial Daily)

Petronas forgoes RM133bn to keep gas prices low
Petronas should have saved almost RM133bn between 1997 and end-March 2011 if the Government had not fixed gas prices to the power and non-power generation industry. Gas prices have been capped at RM6.40 per million metric British thermal unit (mmBtU) for almost 10 years since 1997 as an interim measure. The decision to cap prices had to be extended beyond the original schedule as the region faced the Asian Financial Crisis. (Financial Daily)

OldTown to raise RM79m from IPO
Café chain operator OldTown, which plans to list on Bursa Malaysia’s Main Market next month, intends to raise RM79.2m from its IPO. The fresh capital will be used for capital expenditure to open new stores and purchase manufacturing equipment. Group MD Lee Siew Heng said the company is looking to open 27 new stores by the end of the year, the bulk of which will be in Malaysia, followed by Singapore and Indonesia. (Financial Daily)

Dijaya Corp to unveil projects worth RM762m
Property developer Dijaya Corp plans to launch three new projects this financial year ending 31 Dec with a GDV of RM762m. MD Datuk Tong Kien Onn said the total GDV for the three projects was more than RM1bn but as the group planned to launch them in phases the GDV was RM762m. (StarBiz)

K-Star orders up 57%, set to expand
The China-based shoemaker raked in orders of approximately RM148.6m at the recently concluded Winter 2011 Sales Fair, representing a 57% growth compared to the same event held last year. With the positive book order earned through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Fujian Jinjiang Dixing Shoes Plastics, K-Star is set to enhance and expand its production facilities as well as retail outlets, said its executive chairman and CEO Ding Jian Ping yesterday. (Financial Daily)