PLUS sale needs to be done properly via Khazanah, EPF — Shahril Ridza
https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/plus...f-shahril-ridza

KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 14): Khazanah Nasional Bhd and the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) have never put highway concessionaire PLUS Malaysia Bhd up for sale and should the government decide to let go of PLUS, the next step is to conduct a formal engagement with the current shareholders.

Khazanah managing director Datuk Shahril Ridza Ridzuan said today the formal engagement with PLUS shareholders Khazanah and EPF has not started. Malaysia sovereign wealth fund Khazanah via UEM Group Bhd owns 51% of PLUS while EPF holds the remaining 49%.

“Any decision on sale from a governance point of view needs to be done properly through the current owners of PLUS, that is Khazanah and EPF. That part has not started.

...

Since the rakyat already OWNED the Toll...why the Toll rate cannot be abolished or lower?? Strange...

Who is this UEM Group....that keep earning the "fees" and collections from Toll?

because khazanah need to make money

read up on sovereign investment funds pls

Now you know why so many people drive like a-hole on PLUS.

Like they own the road
Owai

so u think epf generating money and give 6% interest out of thin air?

Gonna privatize to failed crony again. Then EPF won't have as high dividend as previously.

you want lower epf dividend?.... can....

Why atuk so keen on selling PLUS even when the current owner already said they are not selling.

yahoooo!!!

EFP money is not tax money la.
After retirement, EFP money is given back to people.
If EFP investment is non-profitable, will you still get dividend? Will you still get back your money after retirement?
You want toll maintenance cost to be deducted from your EPF account or not?

TOPKEK.

what abolish??

whoever use the toll, should pay for it.
If free-toll, then provide free public transports for ppl with no cars.

They did, with a monthly pass RM100 for unlimited ride.

lol that is one way of looking at it

The maintenance cost is much much less than the toll /fact

Does this mean we shouldn't subsidize infrastructure in rural areas?
Like you say, those who use it should pay for it...

lol who belip politicians?

so why we pay for our own tol?

Because rakyat scare and clueless. Dunno what to do. Hence pay lor lol.

they maintain the highway

so that plus wont keep on increasing tolls

Uem and epf smiling

Err u sohai ka? Owned by EPF then ur epf dividend u think is fall from sky? If u give free means ur epf dividend will impact, like that also kenot understand?

ada diskaun?

u think malaysia = klang valley only is it?

I dont understand why people think epf money belongs to taxpayers. It belongs to epf contributors, and even then some have more contributions than others.

malaysian logic

"if oil is in the ground everyone will be rich!"

Yeah. Creating such an emotional argument based on faulty logic is a bit ambitious.

I still expect these things would be forwarded again and again on whatsapp and facebook, sadly.

its an echo chamber, most folks just want to keep their existing beliefs and run riot with it.

"if theres resources, we all be rich" ; "if the authorities come, its the other races fault"

then they blast the narrative everywhere, after enough times, it becomes the new truth.

rakyat owned or gov owned?
huge difference...

Penang, Kuantan also have rapid services in case you didnt noticed.

Since you didn't noticed this two area. I supposed you are not working in Klang valley, east coast nor the northern region?

WHY is the government so desperate to SELL?
WHY don't EPF buy Khazanah's stake?

https://www.theedgemarkets.com/article/cabi...s-not-sell-plus

KUALA LUMPUR: The Cabinet at its meeting yesterday decided not to sell PLUS Malaysia Bhd. The country’s biggest highway concessionaire will remain with its current shareholders Khazanah Nasional Bhd, which owns a 51% stake, and the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) with a 49% stake, according to sources.

This ends the long-drawn speculation on which private company will win the race to own PLUS that operates five concessions, including the 772km North-South Expressway, the Penang Bridge, and the second Johor-Singapore crossing.

Nonetheless, to fulfil its manifesto, the sources say that the government wants to restructure the concession agreements held by PLUS with the aim to reduce toll rates.

On Jan 9, Finance Minister Lim Guan Eng said the government is sticking to its decision to freeze toll hike nationwide this year even though this will cost the government over RM1 billion to compensate the concessionaires.

In 2019, the government spent RM994.43 million to freeze toll hikes involving the country’s 21 highway concessionaires.

The government had previously announced that it has received four offers to privatise PLUS, ranging from RM3.5 billion to RM5.3 billion, each with a different arrangement on the concession period and toll charges.

Khazanah managing director Datuk Shahril Ridza Ridzuan told the media on Tuesday that the four offers have undervalued the highway concession.

In the same vein, Shahril pointed out that neither Khazanah nor the EPF has put PLUS up for sale while adding that both Khazanah and the government are on the same page when it comes to PLUS’s valuation.

Separately, Khazanah said in a statement yesterday that the government has been engaging the shareholders of PLUS with the objective of reducing the burden of tolls on highway users, relieving the government of compensation pressures, as well as respecting the value of the highway concession for existing debt and equity holders.

“There have also been several unsolicited offers which Khazanah is aware of, although the parties concerned have not directly engaged with us. We have provided advice and viewpoints to the government and have engaged with it to assist in determining policy considerations towards achieving the objectives stated above.

“Khazanah would like to emphasise again that throughout the entire engagement process, the government has been thoroughly professional and has upheld the appropriate governance in striving for the best resolution to the matter,” Khazanah said.



‘Details yet to be finalised for Gamuda-owned highways’

It is understood that the government is still fine-tuning the details of the purchase of the four intra-city highways owned by Gamuda Bhd.

The Cabinet has in principle approved the takeover but details of the deal are still being worked out.

The ministry of finance has announced that the government intends to acquire the highway concessionaires through a special purpose vehicle wholly owned by the Minister of Finance (Incorporated).

The Gamuda-related highway concessionaires in the Klang Valley are priced at the entreprise value of RM6.2 billion. The offer letters were formally handed over on June 21, 2019.

The four highways are Lebuhraya Damansara-Puchong (LDP), Sistem Penyuraian Trafik KL Barat (SPRINT), Lebuhraya Shah Alam (Kesas) and the SMART Tunnel.

It is worth noting, however, that the cut-off date to negotiate and finalise the deal has been postponed thrice. Originally set to conclude by the end of August 2019, the deadline was pushed to the end of October, then Dec 31, and to Feb 28, 2020.

At the time of writing, the government had not issued a statement regarding the Cabinet’s decision on PLUS and the Gamuda-related highway concessionaires.