KUALA LUMPUR – The Gateway Development Alliance Sdn Bhd (GDA) consortium and other offerers for the takeover of Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) have revised the acceptance threshold for their privatisation offer to 85% from the initial 90%.
In a filing to Bursa Malaysia today, MAHB also informed the bourse that the consortium, which is led by sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional Bhd’s wholly-owned subsidiary UEM Group Bhd and the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) alongside other shareholders, holds a total of 86.51% of MAHB shares as of Jan 17.
Along with GDA, joint offerers for the MAHB takeover also include Pantai Panorama Sdn Bhd, Kwasa Aktif Sdn Bhd and Gip Aurea Pte Ltd .
The closing time and date for current MAHB shareholders to accept the takeover offer has also been extended for the third time, with the new deadline set for 5pm on February 4 instead of the earlier scheduled Jan 24.
“Save for the revision and the extended closing date, all other details, terms and conditions of the offer as set out in the offer document, including the offer price (i.e. RM11.00 per MAHB share), remain unchanged,” MAHB said in the bourse filing.
Prior to the takeover initiative, UEM Group held a 32.99% stake in MAHB while EPF owned 7.86%.
Other shareholders in GDA include a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (Adia), which held a 0.13% stake in MAHB, and funds managed by Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP), a prominent infrastructure investor.
Trading in MAHB shares this morning halted at 9am for an hour, with the shares performing positively.
As of 10.11 am, MAHB had risen six sen to RM10.96 from RM10.90 at the close last Friday, Bernama reports.
The company made a separate Bursa filing on the halt and resumption of share trading.
Meanwhile, GDA in a press statement said the revised acceptance threshold at 85% is to trigger index fund acceptances and accelerate completion of MAHB’s privatisation.
GDA urged MAHB shareholders who have yet to accept the offer to act now before the new Feb 4 deadline, as the consortium “shortly expects to declare the offer unconditional”.
It also said it remains confident that total acceptances will exceed 90%, reminding shareholders who have yet to accept the offer “that there will be reduced liquidity once MAHB is removed from the indices”.
“They run the risk of holding unlisted shares,” GDA said.
It reiterated that the offer price of RM11 per share is final and will not be revised further.
“The offer price, payable wholly in cash shortly after the offer is declared unconditional, provides shareholders a substantial 44% premium to MAHB’s share price one year ago (Jan 19, 2024) of RM7.64.
“The consortium reiterates its view that MAHB’s operational and financial underperformance will continue if it remains listed and that the transformation of MAHB is best undertaken as a private entity, supported by strategic and financial investors able to take a long-term approach to decision-making and capital investment.
“This transformation, which will benefit wider Malaysia, requires substantial capital expenditure to both remediate MAHB’s ageing and failing infrastructure, as well as to support expansion.
“Against a decade-long backdrop of lagging performance versus regional peers, shareholders should have no doubt about the challenges that MAHB faces and that its ability to pay dividends in the future will be greatly reduced by this upcoming capital expenditure requirement,” GDA said. – January 20, 2025
