In March the Malaysian tycoon who runs YTL, one of Southeast Asia’s largest infrastructure companies, plunked down $1.77 billion for Britain’s Wessex Water, an Enron affiliate put on the block by its bankrupt parent. And he’s still shopping. “As long as it’s regulated, it’s good,” says Yeoh.
Since he took charge of YTL in 1990, Yeoh, 49, has transformed a small construction business started by his late grandfather into a global company. The ink is barely dry on the Wessex purchase, but Yeoh says, “We are interested in acquiring more utilities , not just water but also power, in Europe, Australia and Asia.” What’s so attractive about them? Potentially high returns and , in the case of regulated businesses , a low-risk operating environment. With YTL’s current cash hoard of $1.2 billion and growing profits, Yeoh says, “we can do at least one, possibly two, significant deals every year.”
“There is a dearth of serious long-term infrastructure investors worldwide, and YTL can help fill that vacuum,” he says. “If you look at big global infrastructure deals recently, most of them involve financial players or private equity firms. These guys are short-term players who eventually just want to sell to long-term investors like me.”
