Published: 2010/07/21
Khazanah Nasional Bhd, Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund, sold a RM581.3 million ($181 million) stake in state-controlled Telekom Malaysia Bhd as part of the government’s plans to reduce holdings, two bankers involved in the deal said.
Khazanah sold 178.9 million shares, or 5 percent of the fixed-line phone and Internet service provider, at a fixed price of RM3.25 apiece, the bankers said. That’s a 2.7 percent discount to the stock’s RM3.34 closing price in Kuala Lumpur yesterday. The shares were sold to local and foreign institutional investors, one of the bankers said.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said on March 30 that state-linked institutions will cut public-company holdings to free up shares and attract foreign investors to Malaysia, part of a plan that may also almost halve its budget deficit in the next five years, reduce expenses and make Malaysia more competitive.
The divestiture plan “has been on the agenda for a while. They’re just timing it rightly,” said Pankaj Kumar, who oversees about $560 million as chief investment officer of Kurnia Insurans Malaysia Bhd. “It shows that investors now have an appetite for it.”
Asset Sales
Khazanah, a state investment agency whose investments climbed 63 percent in value to RM54.1 billion last year, trimmed its holdings in power producer Tenaga Nasional Bhd, toll-road operator PLUS Expressways Bhd and Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd in 2009. It also plans to sell its 32.2 percent stake in Pos Malaysia Bhd, a national postal company.
The Employees Provident Fund, a state-controlled pension fund, accounts for half of daily trading volume in Malaysia’s local equity and bond markets, Najib said.
Telekom rose 0.3 percent to RM3.35 at 11:15 a.m. in Kuala Lumpur, while Malaysia’s benchmark index rose 0.5 percent.
Maybank Investment Bank Bhd and Nomura Holdings Inc managed placement, the people said. Khazanah spokesman Asuki Mohd Abas said the banks will make an announcement soon, declining to comment further.
The investment agency may raise RM3 billion to RM3.5 billion from divestments this year, Managing Director Azman Mokhtar said in January.
The agency, which currently makes 12 percent of its investments outside Malaysia, will explore more international acquisitions in Asia, Azman said on March 23. It is currently competing with Fortis Healthcare Ltd. to take over Singapore- listed Parkway Holdings Ltd., Asia’s biggest hospital operator.
Bloomberg
http://www.btimes.com.my/Current_News/BTIMES/articles/20100721162914/Article/
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