KUALA LUMPUR: The Employees Provident Fund will consider selling its stake in PLUS Malaysia Bhd for a good offer, its chief executive officer Tunku Alizakri Alias said.
“PLUS is a very good asset that has given us good returns all these years. We will consider selling our stake if it makes sense to us and could benefit our members,” Alizakri told reporters on the sidelines of Khazanah Megatrends Forum 2019 here today.
On the proposal brought to the table by Khazanah Nasional Bhd, Alizakri said the sovereign wealth fund had presented a strong proposal.
He did not share any details.
“As for Khazanah’s plan to bring PLUS forward, as our partner, we believe that Khazanah has a strong proposal which can ensure the right ownership of the highway concessionaire,” he said.
Earlier today, Prime Minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad reportedly said PLUS can be sold to private entities, provided that the government can still participate in its future decision-making.
Dr Mahathir is also Khazanah’s chairman.
Khazanah owns 51 per cent of PLUS, while the EPF owns 49 per cent. This followed a takeover in 2011, in a transaction valued at RM32 billion.
Meanwhile, Alizakri said it was going to be challenging for the EPF to perform this year, due to external economic headwinds, in particular the US-China trade war.
“Based on the data that we have now, we are in a challenging environment. But we at EPF will ensure that every investment that we are going to make, will be a good long-term asset.
“If we must sell, we will make sure we can get the best deal,” he added.