A consortium led by two Malaysian state-linked investment firms has offered to acquire full control of Malaysia Airports Holdings, operator of airports including Kuala Lumpur International and Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen.
Khazanah subsidiary UEM Group, and Employees Provident Fund (EPF), are both existing shareholders of Malaysia Airports, holding 33.2% and 7.9% of shares, respectively.
Under an offer submitted today for the remaining shares in the listed-company, Khazanah’s stake would rise to 40%, and EPF’s to 30%.
Khazanah is the Malaysian government’s sovereign wealth fund, while EPS manages private-sector workers’ retirement funds..
The firms lead the Gateway Development Alliance consortium, which also includes a wholly owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and funds managed by airport owner and investor Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP). The latter has interests in London City, Gatwick and Sydney airports, and recently agreed to plans to sell its stake in Edinburgh airport.
The consortium has made a conditional offer price of RM11 ($2.3) per share for the airport. If successful, Malaysia Airports would delist from the Malaysian stock exchange.
Khazanah managing director Dato’ Amirul Feisal Wan Zahir says: “Malaysia is strategically well located in the fast-growing Southeast Asian aviation market and has the potential to strengthen its long-haul and regional network.”
Global Infrastructure Partners chair and chief executive Bayo Ogunlesi adds: “Given GIP’s substantial expertise in owning and operating airports, together with our partners, we can focus on improving customer service, elevating operational excellence, growing passenger volumes and enhancing employee engagement.”
Malaysia Airports generated an improved net profit of RM543 million in 2023 on revenues of almost RM5 billion. That was driven by a sharp jump in passengers to 47.2 million at Malaysia’s primary Kuala Lumpur hub, though that is still some way short of the 62.3 million passengers it handled in 2019, before the pandemic.
The group also handled 34.7 million across the country’s 38 other airports, while Instanbul Sabiha Gokcen airport accommodated 37.6 million passengers in 2023.
