KUALA LUMPUR – Malaysia’s lacklustre statistics on investments, tourist arrivals and flight routes point to an urgent need for the proposed privatisation of Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB), said the Finance Ministry.
The government-linked entity only spent RM1.4 billion on investment over a five-year period, far behind neighbouring Singapore (RM6.6 billion) and Indonesia (RM12 billion).
In 2023, Malaysia only offered 22 long-haul routes, compared to Singapore’s 40 and Thailand’s 55, while tourist arrivals over 10 years before the pandemic only grew 1% annually.
Seeing this, MAHB shareholders sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional Bhd and statutory body the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) felt it was crucial for the airport operator to restructure its operations.
“Foreign shareholding in MAHB is nothing new as it stood at 45% in 2018. Currently, it is at 27%. With the privatisation deal, Khazanah and EPF will increase their shareholding from 41% to 70%. The Gateway Development Alliance consortium (in the deal) is also led by Khazanah and EPF,” the ministry said in a written reply to opposition leader Datuk Seri Hamzah Zainudin (Larut-PN).
“All airports under MAHB remain national strategic assets as outlined in the operation agreement. If the privatisation deal is sealed, Malaysia’s interest is protected though Khazanah and EPF’s 70% stake as well as the government’s golden share.”
In another reply to Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal (Machang-PN), the Finance Ministry said the RM11 per share offer exceeded MAHB’s all-time high of RM10.58, bringing the total equity value to RM18.4 billion.
“The offer has to be agreed upon by at least 90% of MAHB’s current shareholders and is expected to be finalised by Q3 this year.”
MAHB’s privatisation deal has been heavily criticised due to the link between consortium member Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) and New York-based investment giant BlackRock, which is accused of being complicit in Israel’s genocidal policies against the Palestinians.
BlackRock will be completing its acquisition of GIP by year end. However, Putrajaya has repeatedly said that BlackRock would not be involved in MAHB operations and GIP management would retain full control of its investee companies.
In the proposed deal, GIP and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority will hold a 30% minority interest in MAHB. GIP also said BlackRock was never involved in any transaction related to the restructuring of the MAHB shareholding. – July 16, 2024