KUALA LUMPUR: The government has no intention of releasing its stake in PLUS Malaysia Bhd to Maju Holdings due to uncertainty, risks and unclear source of funding linked to the takeover exercise plan.
The Finance Ministry told Dewan Rakyat that the government welcomed any suggestions regarding the highway concessionaire's takeover but it must be practical to avoid PLUS from suffering the same fate as Perwaja Steel Sdn Bhd, which ceased operations after it was privatised.
"Any takeover plan must not only consider aspects such as avoiding toll charge hikes and low maintenance costs, but it also needs to meet government requirements.
"This includes operational and financial capabilities for the North-South highway in the long run," it said in a written reply to Hee Loy Sian (PKR-Petaling Jaya Selatan) dated Oct 26.
In line with this, the ministry said clear and robust source of funding must support the takeover plan to ensure the country's strategic asset manager would withstand any economic shock and foreign exchange volatility.
“This is an important matter to ensure that the government would not have to bail out PLUS if any undesirable incidents were to occur.
“Therefore, the government takes seriously the financial standing and capability of a private entity such as Maju Holdings in its corporate takeover bid.
“Due to risks and uncertainty in this matter, the government has no plans to let go of PLUS’ stakes to Maju Holdings,” it concluded.
Maju Holdings executive chairman Tan Sri Abu Sahid Mohamed had in August said that he wants to acquire PLUS by buyinh up both the 51 per cent share held by UEM Group Bhd and the 49 per cent held by Employees Provident Fund (EPF), in a RM30 billion or more acquisition.
Abu Sahid had also pledged that should the acquisition take place, there will be no toll charge hikes until the end of the concession in 2038.
EPF and UEM however, have reiterated that they have no intention to let go of their stakes.