PETALING JAYA: Investors are advised to accept the offer to take Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd
(MAHB) private, given that this is an opportunity for them to realise immediate gains with low risk of the exercise falling through.
On Nov 15, Khazanah Nasional Bhd, the Employees Provident Fund (EPF), Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) and Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (Adia) formally launched a conditional voluntary offer to take MAHB private at RM11 per share.
This follows the successful fulfilment of all four regulatory approvals outlined in the pre-conditions.
On Nov 8, the Malaysian Aviation Commission (Mavcom) approved the proposed transaction.
It had determined it had complied with Malaysian aviation laws, provided the joint offerors finalised and entered into a binding shareholders’ agreement.
Mavcom confirmed this condition was satisfied on Nov 15, upon receiving the finalised agreement.
“We believe the offer provides an opportunity for investors to realise immediate gains on investment and benefit from the joint offerors’ resources and vision for sustainable growth, making it a favourable proposition.
“However, Malaysia’s long-haul connectivity challenges and the capital investment required for infrastructure upgrades may pose risks to MAHB’s organic growth. Hence, we recommend investors to accept the offer,” CIMB Securities Research said.
The research house has revised its target price to RM11 from RM10.30 to reflect the offer price.
It foresees a better future for MAHB as the consortium aims to enhance Malaysia’s global air connectivity, modernise MAHB’s operations, and maximise the potential of its airport network, including Istanbul Sabiha Gökçen.
“Moreover, the joint offerors will invest in upskilling MAHB staff, improve job prospects, enhance environmental performance and retain the government’s special rights in MAHB.
“They also guarantee stability in passenger service charges while maintaining and improving airport operations in Malaysia and Türkiye,” CIMB Securities added.
Similarly, RHB Research recommended investors to accept the deal, as the offer exceeded its estimated valuation.
The research house, which maintained a “neutral” call with a target price (TP) of RM11, believed MAHB is on track to be privatised following Mavcom’s approval.
“We do not expect any negative surprises and believe MAHB is set to be delisted by the first quarter of 2025.
“We keep our call and TP, matching the offer price.
“Considering the share price has been edging closer to the offer price, we believe this signals the market’s confidence that this deal will likely go through,” it added.
The research house said there will be RM12.3bil worth of shares to be acquired by the consortium based on an offer price of RM11 each.
It added that if the acquisition materialises, which is a voluntary take-over offer, Khazanah, EPF and GIP will own 40%, 30% and 30% of MAHB’s shares, respectively.
