Reactions to such keenly-awaited news were perhaps best summed up by Sekijang MP Anuar Abdul Manap, who said: “I can almost hear the 14.5 million EPF members heaving a sigh of relief that EPF investment in PLUS will remain intact.
“The government is right in retaining ownership of PLUS highways simply because it is a strategic national asset and steady dividends from the highways’ operations flow down to EPF members,” he told Bernama.
PLUS is owned by government-linked entities UEM Group (49%) and EPF (51%).
Toll operator Maju Holdings Sdn Bhd kicked up considerable excitement in the local market last month when it announced a RM36 billion bid to take over PLUS, which runs the 772km tolled highways spanning across Peninsular Malaysia.
Maju Holdings sweetened the deal with a tempting offer of a “no toll hike” for the next 20 years until the end of the concession agreement in 2038.
But in Parliament last week, the finance minister, in a written reply, said the government had no plans to let go of its stake to Maju Holdings, which is owned by its executive chairman, Abu Sahid Mohamed.
Maju also operates the 29km MEX Highway, linking Kuala Lumpur and Putrajaya.
The government’s firm stand shows that it’s not convinced about the takeover bid, which it says has to be supported by “clear and strong” sources of financing.
Yet another factor to be considered is the new operator’s ability to manage PLUS, given its position as the backbone of the nation’s highway system and a strategic national asset.
It says that this is vital to ensure the government won’t have to bail out PLUS in the event of economic shocks and uncertainties in the foreign exchange market.
“The government takes a serious view of the financial standing of private entities such as Maju Holdings in financing this corporate exercise,” Parliament was told.
This clear-cut political will of the government is clearly a game-changer in itself, given some bitter lessons learnt from the past, especially the privatisation of steel maker Perwaja and Malaysia Airlines over 20 years ago.
In both cases, the government had to inject massive funds on several occasions to bail them out from insolvency. Several economists have also expressed strong reservations about the “no-toll hike” carrot being dangled together with the takeover bid.
Prof Noor Azlan Ghazali said the bad experience of the past when the government decided to part with strategic national assets should not be repeated.
Noor Azlan, who is vice-chancellor of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, said as the nation’s communication backbone with a crucial and much larger economic role, PLUS should remain in government hands and not be subject to any takeover by a third party.
MP Anuar also alluded to the government’s move, announced in the Budget 2018 last week, for the abolition of tolls at four highways, three of which belong to PLUS.
“This is a very bold move by the prime minister. This is made possible because PLUS belongs to the government, via Khazanah and EPF.
“In fact, even the compensation to be paid out for the abolition of tolls at these three highways will be ploughed back to the 14.5 million EPF members by way of dividends,” he said.
No plans to sell PLUS to Maju Holdings, says finance ministry