KUALA LUMPUR: Golden Skies Venture Sdn Bhd (GSV), a special purpose vehicle that has recently placed a formal bid to take over Malaysia Airlines Bhd (MAS), is keen to rebuild the national carrier with a highly-focused business model, strong network expansion and sizeable fleet.
CEO Shahril Lamin said GSV intends to turn around MAS within three years after the takeover is completed, whilst rejuvenating the brand as a premium carrier.
GSV, according to him, planned to bring in more widebody aircraft to join the national carrier’s existing fleet and help serve more new long-haul routes which would be captured through strategic partnerships with other international airline operators.
This includes major European and Asian destinations, as well as reinstating several key destinations in the US such as New York and Los Angeles.
“All this while, MAS has not been very clear in what kind of service it is offering and had been cutting down on the routes it served. This has been one of the main reasons why the airline has been suffering.
“What we need to do now is to define MAS as a premium global national flag carrier,” he said in an interview, citing that GSV would also actively work with the Civil Aviation Authority of Malaysia to get the US Federal Aviation Administration’s Category 1 rating reinstated soonest.
GSV was invited by MAS’ sole shareholder, Khazanah Nasional Bhd, to participate in its bid process in late January.
The bid was submitted within the set deadline to Morgan Stanley, a global investment bank hired by the government’s sovereign wealth fund as an independent adviser.
GSV deputy CEO Ravindran Devagunam said no further government funding is required as a total of US$2.5 bil (RM11 bil) would be injected by GSV to rejuvenate MAS/Malaysia Aviation Group.
He said that the funding would be sourced from foreign banks’ financing as well as equity participation, arguing that several investors from Japan and the Middle East are very keen to pursue the exercise.
The recent restrictions to global movement, however, has delayed the finalisation of the equity participation.
“GSV will have management and operational control. We will also bring in a reputable aviation consultant to advise us, as well as invite selected global airlines to be our partners,” he said.
Ravindran said it is pivotal for GSV to have 100% control over MAS as this would enable the company to push through the required changes effectively.
Of the total fund, he said, some of the capital would be set aside for equipment (to be utilised over three years) and some allocation for the repayment of the airline’s outstanding Sukuk.
Ravindran was the former chief operating officer of Hyderabad International Airport and former director at the Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu) in the Prime Minister’s Department.
GSV is 80% owned by Shahril, a lawyer with extensive exposure to aviation law and privatisation, while the remaining 20% equity interest is held by the executive director and economist Dr Puvanesvaran Sanjivee.
According to Puvanesvaran, the entire effort to rebuild MAS would be 51% Bumiputera-led and that GSV commits to maintaining the flag carrier status of MAS as well as the government’s golden share.
The company would also assist the government in rebuilding the airports, logistics, engineering, tourism and hospitality ecosystem, he said.
“We want to be able to assist the government ease the burden on the aviation industry especially in this climate (Covid-19 pandemic) that might cause possible lay-offs of valuable human capital.
“We can do a quick takeover of MAS and save the jobs of its over 13,000 employees,” he said while assuring that there would be no pay cuts and retrenchment of the airline’s operational and frontline staff under GSV’s takeover proposal.
He also hinted that as GSV seeks to take over 100% equity of MAG, which include MAS and other subsidiaries – MABkargo, MASwings, MAB Engineering and Firefly – extensive job opportunities would be created in line with the expansion plan. – April 9, 2020, Bernama
