Malaysian billionaire Vincent Tan has appointed Maybank Investment Bank and UBS AG to advise on the initial public offering of 7-Eleven Sdn Bhd, two sources with direct knowledge of the deal said.

The deal is expected to raise around RM700 million (US$215 million) as early as this year and comes as the country’s equity capital market is picking up after a lull amid political uncertainty ahead of a general election in May.

Long-haul carrier AirAsia X Bhd raised US$310 million in an IPO in July. UMW Oil & Gas Corp Bhd is aiming to kick-start the bookbuilding of its RM2.4 billion IPO as early as September.

“Everything is still very preliminary,” one of the sources said yesterday. “And the listing could happen next year instead.”

Nobody from Tan’s conglomerate Berjaya Corporation Bhd was immediately available to comment.

7-Eleven, part of Berjaya Retail, is Malaysia’s single largest convenience store chain with some 1,300 outlets, according to its official website.

It posted net profit of RM36.7 million on revenue of RM1.3 billion in 2010, according to a previous filing to the local stock exchange.

Tan, Malaysia’s tenth richest person according to Forbes, took Berjaya Retail private in 2011, nine months after the company was first listed on Aug 16, 2010 due to the dismal performance of the shares.

- Reuters