Who is TAK?

Tatparanandam Ananda Krishnan was born in 1938 in Brickfields, Kuala Lumpur to a Tamil immigrant family from Sri Lanka. Nicknamed TAK, Krishnan is a Malaysian businessman and philanthropist and he is estimated to worth about US$7.4 billion, making him the second wealthiest man in Southeast Asia (and world's 99th).
Krishnan hates public exposure and is known to maintain a very low profile for a person of his stature. However, his hugely successful business activities always thrust him into the limelight and his name represents a huge business empire.
Currently, he has business interests in entertainment (Astro), space (3 Satellites), oil, power, shipping, telecommunications (Maxis - Malaysia, Aircell - India), property and gaming (Pan Pools Malaysia). His companies operate in most parts of South East Asia. A quarter of his wealth comes from the gambling business (lottery, horse-racing wagering). He is also said to be behind the world's largest indoor Water Park in Tropical Islands, Germany with former Genting Group executive Colin Au. He is also pondering an online lottery venture in Russia.

Said to have an extraordinary entrepreneurial flair and being far-sighted, it was Krishnan who sold former Malaysian Prime Minister Tun Dr. Mahathir Mohamad the idea of the 88-storey Petronas Twin Towers, the world's second tallest building, which stake he has now sold off.

“Ananda Krishnan has been called everything from a recluse to a humble, silent worker. Not much is known about him and his tightly guarded private life because he maintains such a low profile,” observers said.

He is known to be apolitical but also a close friend of both Dr. Mahathir and Mahathir's former arch-foe Tengku Razaleigh Hamzah. He brokered the peace deal and healed the political rift between them a few years ago.

Despite his wealth he still maintains and stays in his family's Minangkabau styled mansion in Kuala Lumpur. He was one of the first tycoons to own a Dassault Falcon private jet.

The man & his companies (Bursa Malaysia only)

2267 TANJONG PUBLIC LIMITED COMPANY

The principal activity of the Company is investment holding whilst the principal activities of its subsidiaries in Malaysia are Power Generation, the Numbers Forecast and Racing Totalisator businesses and Property Investment. The principal activities of its subsidiaries in the People?s Republic of China are the importation, bottling, sale and distribution of liquefied petroleum gas. The Group has joint ventures in other entertainment related businesses and an associate which leases facilities for online lottery operations.

7228 TANJUNG OFFSHORE BERHAD

Tanjung Offshore Berhad (TOB) was incorporated in August 2005 and listed in the 2nd Board of Bursa Malaysia. It is principally an investment holding company, whilst its subsidiaries and associated company are principally involved in the provision of integrated services to the oil and gas and related industries in Malaysia.
TOB's main subsidiary, Tanjung Offshore Services Sdn Bhd (TOS) commenced operations in March 1990. TOS is involved in providing comprehensive services to the oil and gas industry and had secured some exclusive agencies for a wide range of engineering equipment and parts such as compressors, turbines, pumps and control valves in Malaysia.
The Group commenced its marine support services in May 1995 by setting a Marine Dept within TOS and the formation of another subsidiary, Tanjung Kapal Services Sdn Bhd (TKS), a ship management / owner company.
In May 1996, Tanjung Maintenance Services Sdn Bhd (TMS) was incorporated to provide other support services to the oil and gas industry such as manpower, maintenance and repair works on oil and gas platforms and onshore plants.
To further enhance the provision of other support services and manpower supply, Tanjung NewEnery Services Sdn Bhd (TNE) and Tanjung Petroconsult Sdn Bhd (TPC)was formed in December 2004 and in April 2003 respectively.
To date, the Tanjung Group has grown to become a reputable integrated oil and gas service provider within the Malaysian oil and gas industry.

5076 ASTRO ALL ASIA NETWORKS plc (AAAN) is the holding company for MEASAT Broadcast Network Systems Sdn Bhd, the sole operator of direct-to-home satellite pay television services in Malaysia under the “Astro” brand, and Airtime Management & Programming Sdn Bhd, the leading commercial radio broadcaster in Malaysia. Celestial Pictures Ltd, a subsidiary of AAAN in Hong Kong, owns and distributes the world's largest Chinese film library as well as operates the Celestial Movies Channel. Astro Entertainment Sdn Bhd, another AAAN subsidiary, creates Bahasa Malaysia and Bahasa Indonesia content for distribution primarily to Malaysian and Indonesian markets. AAAN also has investments in pay television and radio broadcasting in India. AAAN, which is listed on Bursa Malaysia, operates out of the All Asia Broadcast Centre, a fully-integrated digital broadcast and production complex in Kuala Lumpur.

ASTRO is Malaysia's leading cross-media group with a significant presence in DTH (Direct-To-Home) TV services and commercial radio. Astro, the subscription TV service commenced operations in 1996 with 22 channels and currently broadcasts over 100 pay-TV channels across Malaysia and Brunei, to over 2 million subscribers in four major languages. Its state-of the-art digital broadcast facilities at the All Asia Broadcast Centre and at Cyberjaya multiplex has capability for digital TV.

3875 MEASAT GLOBAL BHD

Since 1996, MEASAT has provided reliable satellite solutions to customers across the Asia-Pacific region. The MEASAT fleet comprising MEASAT-3, MEASAT-2, AFRICASAT-1 and the newly launched MEASAT-3a satellites extends MEASAT’s reach to over 145 countries representing 80% of the world’s population across Asia Pacific, Middle East, Africa, Europe and Australia.The MEASAT network supports many of the region's leading broadcasters, DTH operators and telecommunications companies.

MEASAT supports the Astro DTH service in Malaysia, providing DTH multi-channel television services to over 2.6 million subscribers, as well as DTH services in Indonesia, Australia, Vietnam, and India.

MEASAT is also used by many of the region's leading broadcasters and cable channels to distribute television programming to cable head-ends, and by telecommunications operators to support remote connectivity, GSM and corporate VSAT networks.

Leveraging facilities at the MEASAT Teleport and Broadcast Centre, a world class teleport facility located just outside of Kuala Lumpur, and working with a select group of world-class media partners including Antrix, Astro, Ascent Media, and GlobeCast Hong Kong, MEASAT provides a complete range of broadcast services including Standard Definition and High Definition video playout, up-linking, fibre and co-location services.

Malaysia's Maxis may re-list by year end

Maxis, Malaysia's top mobile phone operator, could re-list by the end of the year following government calls to boost liquidity on the local exchange, a top business weekly reported on Saturday.
The Edge, citing unidentified sources close to the company, said the funds used from floating the company's Malaysian operations would be used to expand business in India and Indonesia.
"That's an option that's being seriously looked at. (A listing by year end) is possible, if regulatory approvals go smoothly," one source said.

Malaysia's Prime Minister Najib Razak on Wednesday said he had asked Maxis to re-list on Bursa Malaysia to boost liquidity and draw in investors to the Southeast Asia's most laggard stock market so far this year . Maxis said it would take into consideration what the premier had said when deciding on the timing to relist.

"When Maxis was privatised and de-listed in 2007, the stakeholders articulated the possibility of a re-listing of the company after internal re-structuring, some time in the future," the firm said in a statement issued later on Saturday. The firm was de-listed by reclusive tycoon Ananda Krishnan, who controls 75 percent of Maxis. The rest is owned by state-owned Saudi Telecom Co Ltd (7010.SE)

Maxis' market capitalisation stood at around 39 billion ringgit ($11.05 billion) before it was taken private, Reuters data showed, and the new listing is expected to give the company an enterprise value of 40 billion ringgit, the report said.

Only plantation conglomerate Sime Darby (SIME.KL) and the Southeast Asian country's biggest bank, Maybank (MBBM.KL), have higher market capitalisation at 47.5 billion ringgit and 45.2 billion ringgit respectively.

TAK's companies are HOT! HOT! HOT! in Bursa Malaysia with speculations abound.

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