IT was the big guns of Khazanah Nasional Bhd (Khazanah) and Employees Provident Fund who first spoke out to explain the pre-conditional voluntary offer by a consortium called Gateway Development Alliance Sdn Bhd (GDA) to acquire all the shares in Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd (MAHB) not already owned by the consortium.

It was Investment, Trade and Industry Minister Tengku Zafrul Aziz who next defended the government’s decision to allow BlackRock, a firm with alleged links to Israel, to own shares in MAHB.

The minister pointed out that BlackRock is one of Apple’s largest shareholders.

“All of you who own Apple (products), if you really feel strongly, you shouldn’t be using them. Who is the biggest shareholder of WhatsApp? Who is the biggest shareholder of Facebook?

“So where do we draw the line? As a policy, where do we draw the line?” he said at the Madani Economy Townhall in Universiti Malaya, when asked to clarify the MAHB privatisation deal.

Perhaps the minister should explain the difference between shareholding in a public limited company that is not publicly listed – like Khazanah – and one that is publicly listed – like MAHB.

On Friday, it was Global Infrastructure Partners’ (GIP) turn to address some of the criticisms directed at the deal.

According to Phil Iley, head of transport at GIP and a director of GDA, BlackRock is not involved in the deal to take MAHB private.

That is a statement of fact now. But come the third quarter of the year, BlackRock will acquire 100% of the business and assets of GIP.

GIP will be like Khazanah, which is owned by the Minister of Finance (Incorporated), with the exception of one share held by the Federal Lands Commissioner (Incorporated).

When the deal to take MAHB private is completed, MAHB will also be like Khazanah, which is a public limited company that is not publicly listed. Its shareholding will be limited to a few private investors and it will no longer be required to comply with the strict guidelines of regulators, such as the Securities Commission (SC).

There are differences between listed and unlisted public limited companies.

Read Listed vs Unlisted Companies or watch lawyer Akmal Saufi on TikTok.

“Biar tahu jangan keliru”. – June 24, 2024.

* Hafiz Hassan reads The Malaysian Insight.

* This is the opinion of the writer or publication and does not necessarily represent the views of The Malaysian Insight. Article may be edited for brevity and clarity.