KUALA LUMPUR: Shares in Berjaya Land Bhd (BLand) rose over 8% in early trade Friday after its parent company, Berjaya Corp Bhd (BCorp) planned to privatise the former.

       BLand advanced 8.62%, or 2.5 sen to 31.5 sen with 23 million shares traded. BCorp rose 3.64%, or one sen to 28.5 sen with 13.5 million shares traded.

       BCorp plans to privatise subsidiary BLand and sell Berjaya Sports Toto Bhd (BToto) under the diversified group's strategic transformation plan, which includes a proposed hospitality real estate investment trust.

       BCorp group chief executive officer Abdul Jalil Abdul Rasheed said the group has not set a timeline to privatise BLand.

       "Timeline to privatise BLand? I don’t know, there is an element of funding because it will cost money to take the stock off the market.”

       Abdul Jalil said BCorp may be prepared to listen to offers for BToto as the number forecast operator (NFO) is in a highly regulated business.

       "I don’t want to put a timeline, but if it hits the price, we will sell it. I am not too much in a rush because it does give me good dividend,” he said.