Brunei agency sells stake in Malaysia Airlines
Brunei agency sells stake in Malaysia Airlines
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP): Brunei Investment Agency has sold its stake in loss-making Malaysia Airlines Systems Bhd. (MAS), the national carrier announced Friday.
The Brunei agency sold its 9.09 percent equity in MAS, or 70 million shares, to an unidentified "beneficial owner" for an undisclosed sum, it said in a statement to the stock exchange.
MAS did not say when the stake was sold.
It is unclear how the sale affects MAS foreign shareholding. About 16 percent of the airline was in foreign hands, including the Brunei investment.
The government in July authorized MAS to raise its limit on foreign shareholdings from 30 percent to 45 percent.
The government was now in talks to take over the controlling stake in MAS from its executive chairman Tajudin Ramli.
It is then expected to sell part of the stake to a foreign buyer to improve MAS's competitiveness. SwissAir, Dutch airline KLM and Qantas Airways of Australia have expressed interest.
The online version The Edge business weekly said last month SwissAir has emerged as a possible strategic partner for MAS after talks with Qantas Airways apparently collapsed, according to a report Friday.
It quoted sources close to the companies as saying that SwissAir was negotiating for a stake in the Malaysian carrier and discussions were expected to be concluded soon.
The report said MAS believed SwissAir's offer was more "acceptable."
SwissAir has promised to make Kuala Lumpur International Airport its regional hub, it added. If the SwissAir deal goes through, MAS will join the Qualiflyer Alliance.
Tajudin, who has been MAS chairman since 1994, holds 29.09 percent equity through his company Naluri Bhd.
Naluri has debts of close to one billion ringgit and Tajudin is keen to sell the stake.
Earlier this week, MAS announced larger-than-expected interim losses but analysts said its fortunes could turn around amid restructuring plans.
MAS posted a net loss of slightly more than 398 million ringgit (US$105 million) in the six months to September, against a profit of 275.009 million ringgit in the same period a year earlier.