Malaysia Airlines is to be taken private by Malaysia’s sovereign wealth fund in a rescue plan that will see the airline delisted and restructured.
Khazanah, the biggest shareholder in the lossmaking airline with a 69% stake, has submitted a proposal to buy out minority shareholders in a “selective capital reduction and repayment exercise”.
Once Khazanah has completed the stake purchase – worth $436 million – the airline’s shares will be delisted from the Malaysian stock exchange.
The airline’s shares were suspended from trading today, the Financial Times reported.
The move follows two disasters in four months which have led to questions over the survival of the carrier.
It comes two months after Khazanah launched a “comprehensive review” of after the loss of flight MH370 in early March.
The downing last month of a second Malaysia Airlines aircraft over Ukraine added to the urgency of a rescue plan.
Khazanah said the proposed restructuring would require “all parties” to work on a complete overhaul of the carrier.
“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,” it said.
Malaysia Airlines said its board would consider the proposal and would respond at a later date, without elaborating.
“During this period, our business operations remains unchanged,” the airline said.