Who will Syed Mokhtar privatise next?

By ZAIDI ISHAM ISMAIL
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KUALA LUMPUR Oct 4 – After months of speculation and anticipation, shareholders approved last week the privatisation of MMC Corp Berhad.

The move was long awaited as the rumour mill had been churning the company's privatisation plan for a long time.

Plus, it was the right thing to do for Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary as MMC Corp has long been below investors radar.

Similarly, several other companies under the stable of one of Malaysia's richest man are also rumoured to be privatised. Who are they and let's take a look.

Why are listed companies privatised?

Before we go on, let's take a look at why companies are being taken private after they are listed.

Naturally, all companies float their shares to share a piece of the profit pie with investors.

But that is not necessarily the case.

Sometimes a company's profit is not reflected in its share price due to several reasons such as lack of transparency and poor long term prospects.

With no possibility of a turnaround, companies may apply to Bursa to delist to save cost rather than continue to be listed which incur expenses such ss holding annual general meetings and constantly making corporate announcements.

When shareholders value is waning compared to the company's true potential, it is better for its owners to take it private.

Pos Malaysia next to be privatised?

Talks of Pos Malaysia being taken private has also been rife for years.

This is because the company has been financially bleeding for the longest time and has not been returning returns on investments to shareholders.

The company which has seen 4 chief executive officers for the past five years simply cannot compete with the other courier providers unless it changes with the times.

Plus, Pos Malaysia is too bottom heavy with 7,000 postal workers and some are expected to be laid off as they drag the company loeer.

Can the new chief executive officer Charles Brewer turn it around? Only time will tell.

Media Prima, another possibility

Word on the privatisation of Media Prima has been bandied about for a long time too.

Companies in the media industry are ripe for privatisation due to dwindling newspaper sales and the challenging industry outlook.

Thus, the privatisation of Media Prima is on the cards and has been talked about for a long time.

But will Syed Mokhtar make good on the rumour?

He might change his mind if the group start returning to profitability.

Tradewind group of companies

The tycoon owns a string of businesses under the Tradewinds group of companies which include hotels, plantations and property.

For its hotel segment, only the Istana hotel has shuttered permanently while Crown Mutiara is still standing.

Tradewind Plantations meanwhile is also a candidate to be taken private but the firm is still chalking out profits due to the current high crude palm oil prices.

So Syed Mokhtar might keep Tradewind Plantations close to his chest.

So which firm will Syed Mokhtar privatise next? Your guess is as good as mine. – DagangNews.com