By Stephanie Jacob
Ahmad Jauhari Yahya
Malaysia Airlines (MAS) has decided to put Khazanah Nasional Bhd’s RM1.4 billion delisting proposal to a shareholder vote, said chief executive officer Ahmad Jauhari Yahya in an internal email sighted by Kinibiz this evening.
Ahmad Jauhari or AJ as he is popularly known said that majority shareholder Khazanah Nasional’s proposed selective capital reduction and repayment exercise offer will be tabled at an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) later this year.
The sovereign fund, which already holds a 69.37% equity stake, is offering minority shareholders 27 sen per share to acquire the remaining equity. The buyout proposal must get the approval of at least 50% in number of minority shareholders and 75% in value of the minority shareholdings.
“If agreed by the shareholders, an application will be made to the High Court for its approval. The target completion date of delisting is by the end of the year,” he added.
AJ also addressed staff concerns and questions over the proposal and its repercussions, saying “we assure you that there are no changes to our current flights, schedules, reservations or operations. We will continue doing the great things we do each day in taking care of our customers, delivering outstanding guest experiences, and focusing on continuous operational improvements for our business.”
He assured staff that the management is committed to sharing information with them, and that heads of each division will be setting aside time to discuss the deal with staff, share additional information and answer questions.
Acknowledging how difficult the past few months has been for the struggling airline, AJ concluded the note to the staff on a hopeful tone, saying he hoped that the “announcement will be the beginning of a new and bright future for Malaysia Airlines.”
Bank analysts are advising minority shareholders to take the deal, given that the offer price per share represents a 12.5% premium on Thursday’s closing price of 24 sen. The counter was suspended from trading on Friday.
In a note to clients, Maybank aviation analyst Mohsin Aziz advised minority shareholders to “go for it, take the offer and say thank you.” Saying that by his calculations, MAS is apparently worth RM4.1 billion or 25 sen a share on a sum-of-parts basis, two sen less than what is being offered by Khazanah.
Mohsin also warned it was unlikely that Khazanah would revise the offer upward, saying “the company will release their second quarter (2Q14) results on Aug 19 (not yet confirmed) and the results will be awful, perhaps the worst in its history.
“When that happens, it will definitely spook everyone and evaporates any hope for a revised offer.”
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