KUALA LUMPUR: MMC Corp Bhd has submitted its appeal to Sabah state government, under a new administration, on its proposed acquisition of a 20 per cent stake in Sabah Ports Sdn Bhd.
MMC’s bid was rejected by the previous state government in April this year.
Group managing director Datuk Seri Che Khalib Mohamad Noh said MMC believed that the acquisition would allow it to tap into the port’s vast potential in terms of cargo movement, and more importantly, the state’s palm oil movement.
Sabah is one of the world’s largest palm oil producers.
“We are still interested. Hopefully the new government would give us the opportunity (to buy Sabah Port). We have to accept that Sabah will never want to give away control of Sabah Port. It is pretty obvious.
“But again, we see that we could probably have a strategic interest so we can collaborate with Sabah Port to expand the potential in Sabah. The primary reason for us to move into Sabah is because we see the vast potential in Sabah to expand.
“We have written an appeal on their recent decision to not to pursue with us. Perhaps, at the right moment, we will go back and explain why we think we can put a good business proposition to Sabah,” he told reporters after MMC’s annual general meeting here today.
Sabah government’s investment arm Warisan Harta Sabah Sdn Bhd was reported to have control of 45.4 per cent of Suria Capital Holdings Bhd, which controls Sabah Port. This was followed by Yayasan Sabah Group (3.67 per cent) and the Sabah Chief Ministe 1.66 per cent. Altogether, the state holds a 50.37 per cent stake in Suria Capital.
Sabah Ports has a 30-year concession from 2004 to manage and operate eight ports in the state.
Che Khalib said MMC was also eyeing other ports acquisition opportunities in Malaysia and other Asean countries.
“Ports is an area that we believe that we can expand, also regionally. Asean is a region where volumes increase as opposed to the Europe. There is huge potential for us to continue in this region. We are looking at opportunities in Asean. Hopefully we are going to make some deals in Asean.
“We have approached some local institution like the EPF (Employees Provident Fund) and Tabung Haji, and they are keen to look at it together with us,” he said.
However, he did not specify if any allocation had been put aside for the planned acquisitions.
Meanwhile, Che Khalib said MMC expects a six to seven per cent growth in total container throughput this year across its ports acquisition and more than 10 per cent growth from Port Tanjung Pelepas.
In 2017, MMC’s ports and logistics division bettered its performance amid continued infrastructure upgrades and strong support from the hinterland market, which offset lower transhipment that came hard on the heels of the shift in global shipping alliances.
The division contributed 68 per cent or RM2.82 billion to group revenue, with total container throughput of 13.75 million TEUs (twenty-foot equivalent unit).