Corporate Captain Retires After Four Illustrious Decades at MUI

After four decades at its helm, Tan Sri Dato’ Khoo Kay Peng announced his retirement as Executive Chairman of Malayan United Industries Berhad (MUI).

Concurrently, Mr. Andrew Khoo Boo Yeow, 46, has been appointed by the MUI Board as their Executive Chairman after assuming the role of Group Chief Executive Officer from 1st January this year.

• Paying tribute to his father, Mr. Andrew Khoo said: “He has left a huge legacy that’s near impossible for anyone to replicate. Nevertheless, I shall always look up to what he has achieved, draw inspiration from his remarkable achievements, and continue to follow the values he espoused as I begin to chart a new course for the MUI Group.”

A prominent Malaysian corporate captain, Tan Sri Dato’ Khoo was admired for his genius in transforming MUI from a small manufacturer of toothbrushes and carton boxes into a large multi-national and multi-industry Group.

Though shying away from media publicity, he was constantly in the public limelight during the heydays of MUI in the 1980’s and early 1990’s when, under his leadership, MUI mounted a series of well-publicized major acquisitions.

MUI’s rapid expansion in those years took the business community by storm, captured the imagination of the public, and became one of the most closely followed counters in Malaysia. At its height, the Group’s diversified businesses included a commercial bank, a licenced finance company, a general insurance group, hotels, prime commercial and landed properties, cement manufacturing, sugar refinery as well as overseas investments.

Today, the MUI Group occupies a diverse and multinational business footprint comprising retailing, property development, hotels, chocolate manufacturing and financial services.

The group operates several renowned business brands such as Laura Ashley and Corus Hotels in the United Kingdom, as well as, Metrojaya and Living Quarters in Malaysia. Some of its established fashion brands include the East India Company, Somerset Bay, Zona, and Cape Cod. The Group’s popular chocolate brands include Crispy, Tango, Kandos and Tudor Gold.

Tan Sri Khoo’s illustrious career included several high-profile appointments as Chairman of Tourist Development Corporation (now known as Malaysia Tourism Promotion Board), Vice Chairman of Malayan Banking Berhad (Maybank), and trustee of the National Foundation.

He also sat on the Boards of SCMP Group Limited (South China Morning Post), Bank of East Asia Limited, Hong Kong, and Northwest University, USA. For his contributions to society, he was conferred Honorary Doctorate degrees by three universities – the Curtin University of Technology, Australia, Northwest University, USA and UCSI University, Malaysia.

Among the business accolades he has received are the Manager of the Year Award by the Harvard Business School Alumni Club of Malaysia, Entrepreneur of the Year Award by the Asian Institute of Management Graduates’ Association of Malaysia jointly with the Association of Banks, the Lifetime Achievement Award for Leadership in Global Business by the Asian Strategy & Leadership Institute (ASLI), and another Lifetime Achievement Award for Entrepreneurship by Enterprise Asia.

He was also presented with a medal by the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, which was established by the US Congress.