KUALA LUMPUR, June 25 — Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) was selected after the company agreed to continue appointing a Malaysian citizen as Malaysia Airport Holdings Bhd’s (MAHB) chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) and to maintain the collective national majority ownership of shares.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said that besides GIP, other bidders had disagreed with the strict requirements set by Khazanah Nasional Bhd and the Employees Provident Fund (EPF).
Khazanah and the EPF had set strict conditions for the collective Malaysian ownership of MAHB to increase to 70 per cent from the current 41 per cent, once the airport operator’s restructuring is completed.
He said Khazanah has reported that 145 companies had initially applied to participate in the consortium to take over MAHB, but only five were deemed suitable.
“Other interested companies wanted management rights, including the chairman and CEO roles. These terms were not accepted (by Khazanah and EPF), which is why GIP was chosen,” Anwar told the Dewan Rakyat during the Prime Minister’s Question Time here today.
He was responding to Machang MP Wan Ahmad Fayhsal Wan Ahmad Kamal’s supplementary question on the rationale behind the decision to choose GIP as part of the consortium in the exercise to privatise MAHB.
Earlier, in reply to Paya Besar MP Mohd Shahar Abdullah, who asked for an explanation on the decision to sell MAHB’s shares to GIP, the Prime Minister said the issue did not arise because the majority ownership of shares remains with domestic players.
“This is different from the outside narrative that suggested a sale, whereas this was not the case. All the while, foreign ownership of MAHB’s shares stood at around 27 per cent, and this was what was taken over by GIP and the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA).
“Does it entail any sale of airports? No. MAHB is just the company that manages the airports. The Malaysian government continues to be the owner of the airports,” he said.
Anwar also saw the pressing need for a significant RM10 billion investment resulting from the MAHB privatisation exercise.
This would allow Khazanah and the EPF to invest their funds in other significantly critical sectors.
GIP has been collaborating with the EPF and other Malaysian companies since 2012.
It has several decades of experience managing and operating airports through its investments in Sydney Airport, the London Gatwick Airport, Edinburgh Airport, Signature Aviation, and, previously, the London City Airport.
Meanwhile, Blackrock has interests in Bursa Malaysia shares worth RM24.7 billion and RM7.9 billion in Malaysian government and corporate bonds.
— Bernama
