The tycoon has revived deliberations about a buyout of Kuala Lumpur-based Astro, according to the people, who asked not to be identified because the information is private.
Ananda has been speaking to potential advisers about funding options and is reaching out to some major investors to gauge their interest, the people said.
Astro has a market value of about US$1.9 billion (about RM7.6 billion) based on its last closing price. Shares of the company have fallen 46% this year through Monday, making it the worst performer on the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Index, which is down 2.3%.
Ananda is Malaysia’s fourth-richest person with a net worth of about US$4.9 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The tycoon controls a 40.9% stake in Astro as of April 10, the company’s latest annual report shows. Malaysian sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional Bhd owns 20.7%, while state-owned pension fund Employees Provident Fund holds 7.8%.
Relisting businesses
Astro’s satellite-television platform offers 189 channels to its more than 5 million customers, reaching over 70% of Malaysian households, according to its website.
The discussions are at an early stage, and there’s no certainty that Ananda will proceed with a take-private bid, the people said.
A representative for Ananda’s private investment vehicle, Usaha Tegas Sdn Bhd, didn’t immediately answer a phone call and email seeking comment. A spokeswoman for Astro said she couldn’t immediately comment.
Ananda is known for buying out minority investors in his listed companies when their stock is slumping, only to bring them back to market at higher valuations later.
Astro, then known as Astro All Asia Networks Plc, completed an initial public offering in 2003 and was taken private by Ananda in 2010. Its domestic operations were relisted just over two years later, with the overseas businesses remaining in private hands.
The tycoon has pursued similar tactics with wireless carrier Maxis Bhd and oil services provider Bumi Armada Bhd. He took Maxis’s parent company private in 2007, then relisted its Malaysian business through a 2009 IPO that raised US$3.3 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. The tycoon bought out Bumi Armada’s other investors in 2003, restructured the company and sold US$882 million of stock to the public again in 2011, the data show.
Speculation that Ananda may buy out Astro previously surfaced in 2016. The company told the Malaysian stock exchange in November that year that it hadn’t received any confirmed proposal from its major shareholders.