TRANSPORT Minister Anthony Loke Siew Fook has insisted that he had not misled Parliament in March when he brushed off an opposition lawmaker’s claim that Khazanah Nasional Berhad was planning to sell its stake in Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB) to a foreign company.
Loke said he stood by the statement he made in Parliament and was simply responding to the information presented by Machang MP Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal that MAHB was to be sold to Global Infrastructures Partners (GIP), which he said was inaccurate.
GIP is a logistics investment fund owned by one of the world’s biggest asset managers, Blackrock, which is the biggest shareholder of Lockheed Martin, the American fighter planes manufacturer.
“He (Wan Fayshal) said we are selling. We are not selling. Khazanah will increase its stake in MAHB,” he told reporters at a press conference after after chairing the National Logistic Task Force meeting in Putrajaya on Friday (May 17).
“Until today, he is still talking about us selling, which is misleading the public.
“What I said in Parliament stands. I wasn’t speaking in jest.”
Loke told the Dewan Rakyat in March that Wan Fayshal’s claims about MAHB’s stake being sold to Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), a company wholly owned by Blackrock, were “merely an assumption”.
Yesterday (May 16), Wan Fayhsal reiterated in a Facebook post that shares in MAHB were being sold to GIP. He also alleged that Blackrock was “pro-Zionist”.
On this, Loke stressed that the government supports Khazanah’s decision to privatise MAHB but the decision does not mean that the government will sell its stake in MAHB to external parties.
He said through this decision, Khazanah, the national asset manager with the Employees Provident Fund (EPF), will form a consortium that will acquire a larger share in MAHB.
Loke said that the transport ministry, which serves as the strategic asset manager for the government, supports the decision to privatise MAHB.
He said this would help the company accelerate its strategic decision-making process.
A consortium led by Khazanah and EPF on Wednesday (May 15) made a voluntary conditional offer to take over all 1.12 billion outstanding shares of MAHB for about RM12.3 bil or RM11 each.
The consortium, called Gateway Development Alliance (GDA), also consists of Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) and GIP.
Once the offer is fully completed, Khazanah will increase its ownership in MAHB from 33.2% to 40%, while EPF from 7.9% to 30%.
Collectively, Malaysian investors will own 70% of MAHB shares, while ADIA and GIP will have the remaining 30%.
The government will retain its special shareholding in MAHB, and the chairman and chief executive officer will continue to be appointed from among Malaysians. – May 17, 2024
Main pic credit: Utusan Malaysia
