Announced by Malaysia's Minister of Economic Affairs Mohamed Azmin Ali on December 20, the Khazanah Nasional Berhad (KNB) confirmed that despite receiving several proposals to become a strategic partner for Malaysia Airlines Berhad (MAB), it was yet to receive one bid that was sufficiently attractive to take forward, according to a report in the Malay Mail. The KNB is the sovereign wealth fund that owns the ailing carrier.
“We just had our board meeting on December 17. This matter was discussed but the proposal which was presented in the board meeting was not attractive enough," said Minister Azmin Ali. “So the chairman and prime minister [Mahathir Mohamad] and the board agreed that we should look into other options before we can come up with the final decision.”
In June, Mahathir revealed that the government is prepared to sell its flag carrier but would like to retain its national identity. The KNB then confirmed in October that there was a shortlist of four potential investors out of 20 which had submitted proposals to become a strategic partner in the redevelopment of MAB. The identity of these entities is still not known, given the Malaysian government's non-disclosure agreement.
However, speculation on the likely bidders has been rife over the past few months. A group of investors fronted by the former non-executive chairman of AirAsia Group, Pahamin Abdul Rajab, has previously confirmed its willingness to submit a bid. Qatar Airways Group was also linked to a potential investment in Malaysia Airlines, but denied its interest in November, along with JAL - Japan Airlines (JL, Tokyo Haneda). AirAsia Group itself repeatedly denied interest in a merger with the full-service flag carrier.
