KUALA LUMPUR: Tomorrow will see a watershed moment for Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) as it is delisted from Bursa Malaysia following the successful privatisation exercise by the Gateway Development Alliance (GDA) consortium.
Trading in shares of MAHB, which manages domestic and international airports, has been suspended since Feb 20 in preparation for the delisting.
The government contends the privatisation would allow the company to respond more swiftly to industry demands and expand its capacity at a quicker pace and in the process attract more airlines.
Whatever the future holds, the delisting marks the end of a 25-year corporate journey for the airport operator as a listed company, since its debut on Nov 30, 1999, at a price of RM2.50 a share.
MAHB had made a commendable opening fetching a 60-sen premium at RM3.10 on the Main Board of the then Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange, where 985 lots were traded. In the first five minutes of trading, investors rushed to purchase MAHB’s shares, driving the price to RM3.44 per share, with 181 lots done.
Upon its market debut, MAHB became the first listed airport management company in Asia and only the sixth in the world to do so.
The delisting and privatisation will see MAHB emerge as a single-shareholder company, fully owned by GDA, with the government remaining a special shareholder.
Following its takeover by the Khazanah Nasional Bhd-led GDA, all five independent non-executive directors have tendered their resignations, effective upon MAHB’s delisting.
On Feb 12, GDA, a consortium comprising Khazanah Nasional, Employees Provident Fund, Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and BlackRock’s Global Infrastructure Partners, acquired 1.64 billion MAHB shares, or 98.68% of MAHB’s total issued shares, as of 5pm that day.
Subsequently, on Feb 13, MAHB submitted its application for delisting from Bursa Malaysia’s Main Market, with its shares trading publicly for the last time on Feb 19. It was last traded at RM10.90 per share, with 134,900 shares changing hands.
Following that, it proposed to compulsorily acquire all of the remaining MAHB shares at RM11 per share from dissenting shareholders, invoking the provisions of Section 222 of the Capital Markets and Services Act 2007.
Today, MAHB manages 39 airports across Malaysia, including five international airports, 17 domestic airports, and 17 STOLports (short take-off and landing airports) as well as the Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen International Airport in Turkiye.
Back in 1999, MAHB was the concessionaire for the management of the Kuala Lumpur International Airport (KLIA) in Sepang for a 50-year period, commencing May 5, 1998. It also manages and operates five international airports, 15 domestic airports and 17 STOLports around the country.
To recap, GDA and its shareholders announced a preconditional voluntary offer on May 15, 2024, to acquire all MAHB shares not already owned by the consortium, at an offer price of RM11 per share, equivalent to RM18.4 billion.
The consortium is led by two Malaysian government-linked investment companies — Khazanah Nasional through its wholly owned subsidiary UEM Group Bhd and EPF. The privatisation is expected to foster growth for MAHB through initiatives that will enhance passenger experiences, increase airline connectivity, upgrade airport infrastructure and provide benefits for Malaysia’s economy. – Bernama
