British retailer Debenhams marked its debut in Asia with the launch today of its first department store in Malaysia's largest shopping mall, and said it planned to expand to Indonesia, Thailand and China.

Spanning four floors in the newly-opened Berjaya Times Square in Kuala Lumpur's shopping district and bigger than its average store in Britain, it is Debenham's 11th international store and among the biggest globally.

The Malaysian store is fully-owned by Berjaya which has a profit-sharing agreement with Debenhams, officials said.

Debenham's international director Francis McAuley said Malaysia was chosen as the "starting point" for its expansion in the region due to its growing middle-class market, its political stability and its partnership with Berjaya.

"The opening of this store in Kuala Lumpur is a giant stepping stone in our strategy to expand in Asia," he told reporters.

"Asia is an important market for us and we are also looking at Indonesia, China as well as Thailand. Our intention is to open a store in Indonesia within the next 18 months."

100 stores worldwide

Debenhams operates 102 stores in Britain and Ireland, with its global outlets in the Middle East and Europe.

McAuley said Debenham's proposed take-over by Baroness Retail, a consortium comprising CVC Capital Partners, Texas Pacific Group and Merrill Lynch Global Private Equity, would not affect its global growth strategy.

It is also expanding in Europe, with the launch of three new stores in Denmark, the Czech Republic and Cyprus by March or April, he said.

"The international business is hugely important to our strategy for growth and I don't see anything changing," he added.

Berjaya Times Square has invested some RM30 million in the Debenhams store, including RM10 million to purchase goods, said its senior general manager Harminder Singh Bagrian.

McAuley said the Malaysian store, which targets families in the middle to upper-class segments, carried 10 new exclusive designer brands as well as smaller-size clothing and Asian-fit lingerie to appeal to local shoppers.

Harminder said some three million people had visited Berjaya Times Square since it was launched on Sept 29 and the opening of Debenhams, its anchor tenant, would pull in more crowds.

The mall, built at a cost of RM1.85 billion by tycoon Vincent Tan, features Asia's largest indoor theme park, Malaysia's first Imax 3D theatre opening early next year and 1,200 service suites in its two 45-storey tower blocks. Some 300 shops have opened so far. - AFP