Malaysia Airlines in complete state takeover

Malaysian state fund Khazanah Nasional has proposed a “complete overhaul” of national carrier Malaysia Airlines.

Khazanah wants to buy the shares it does not already own in Malaysia Airlines and delist the carrier.

The airline has been hurt by two major tragedies – the crash of flight MH17 in Ukraine and disappearance of flight MH370 – in recent months.

The two incidents have triggered concerns about the airline’s future.

Khazanah, which currently owns 69.4% of Malaysia Airlines, has offered to pay 0.27 ringgit ($0.08) per share for the remaining stock, a 12.5% premium to the closing price on Thursday.

Khazanah Nasional has proposed a complete overhaul of Malaysia Airlines

Trading in shares in Malaysia Airlines was suspended on Friday, ahead of the announcement.

Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 went missing on March 8 while flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, leading to a massive search and rescue operation that is still continuing and may cost millions of dollars.

The majority of the passengers on board that flight were from China.

The crisis led to a high number of cancellations and reputational damage to the carrier, including a 60% drop in sales from China.

Malaysia Airlines suffered another major setback in July after all 298 people on board flight MH17 died as the plane was brought down in eastern Ukraine, close to the border with Russia.

The company has been losing money for many years and its market value has fallen by more than 40% in the past nine months.

In May, it reported that its net loss had widened by 59% to 443 million ringgit ($138 million) in the January-to-March period.

That marked that the fifth straight quarter of losses for the airline.

Khazanah, which has invested more than $1bn into the airline in recent years, had previously indicated that a major restructuring was on the cards.

On Friday, the state fund said it would look at restructuring all aspects of Malaysia Airlines’ operations including its business model, finances and human capital.

“Nothing less will be required in order to revive our national airline to be profitable as a commercial entity and to serve its function as a critical national development entity,” the fund said in a statement.