KUALA LUMPUR: The Finance Ministry will meet with Maju Holdings Bhd soon over a “new offer” from the company to take over Plus Malaysia Bhd’s highway concessions.
Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng, who was earlier reported to be against the deal, said his reservations were due to opposition of the takeover from Plus shareholders Khazanah Nasional Bhd and Employees Provident Fund (EPF).
“We have received applications by various parties and the decision must be made based on the two major shareholders, which are EPF and Khazanah.
“As of now, Khazanah and EPF are not agreeable to the proposal, so from that side an early decision was made based on their opinion.
“I will be meeting with Maju (Holdings) since there is a new offer that is different from the earlier proposal,” he said at the lobby of Parliament today.
Lim said any decision, however, would depend on Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad.
“This is the early view of the ministry, according to a review done based on the input given, including by major shareholders,” he said, when asked if his opinion also reflected Khazanah’s stand.
Maju Holdings, owned by Tan Sri Abu Sahid Mohamed, made a bid to take over Plus with four offers.
However, Works Minister Baru Bian had on July 1 said it had yet to receive any proposal from the company.