KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 14 – Khazanah Nasional Berhad will progressively dispose of its non-core and non-competitive assets at roughly the same pace as the last five years.
In recent months Khazanah has pared down stakes in Malaysia AirportS, Plus Highways and Tenaga Nasional.
It said today that it has also obtained the green light from Bank Negara to negotiate a sale of its stake in Eon Capital to Hong Leong Bank.
Managing Director Tan Sri Datuk Azman Mokhtar said that Khazanah had divested about RM18 billion worth of holdings in the last five years and that was a “guidance” of the pace of divestments for the coming year.
“It depends on market conditions. We’re in no hurry and are not going to sell into a weak market,” Azman said in a media briefing today.
The paring down of stakes in entities like Tenaga Nasional in order to increase market liquidity came under some under criticism as it was taken up by government linked investment agencies rather than the private sector.
Azman said however that what was important was “churn” and some private sector funds held shares for as long as seven years as compared with government linked ones which could be as little as two.
Asked about the prospect of paring down stakes in national car maker Proton which is widely perceived as “uncompetitive”, Azman replied that it would be difficult as the carmaker was an industry unto itself and is a “legacy” that has to be handled carefully.
Asked about the possibility of divesting Plus Highway shares to Asas Serba which had proposed to take over the nation’s toll highwayS, Azman said that Khazanah intended to keep Plus Highways as one of its core assets.
“We’re ruling out scenarios other than it being a core holding,” he said.
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The Proton issue is a clear demonstration of further political interference, which precludes efficient use of taxpayer money by Khazanah. I suppose the legacy has to be handled carefully in so far as Azman wants to keep his job!