Malaysia's Second Richest Man Mulls Sale Of Satellite Firm: Report

By Tengku Noor Shamsiah Tengku Abdullah SINGAPORE, Feb 29 (Bernama) -- Malaysia's second richest man Ananda Krishnan plans to sell his stake in satellite operator MEASAT Global Bhd, a move that comes days after he initiated the sale of power assets valued at US$3 billion (RM9.05 billion). Local newspaper The Straits Times (ST) reported that the power and satellite assets could be worth close to US$3.5 billion, implying that MEASAT could be worth around US$500 million. Citing a banking source, the paper said talks about the sale started in late 2011, and could involve Saudi satellite firm Arabsat taking a strategic or even majority stake in the Malaysian satellite firm. The tycoon recently put his entire power portfolio up for sale, with Standard Chartered hired to manage the transaction of about a dozen power plants. He has launched a number of corporate deals in recent years, relisting part of his Maxis Bhd telecommunications services provider in what was Southeast Asia's biggest initial public offering in 2009. Last year, his team relisted Malaysian oil and gas services provider Bumi Armada Bhd. He has also privatised Malaysian pay-TV monopoly Astro All Asia Networks Plc after a money-losing expansion into Indonesia and India weighed on the company's finances. ST reported control of MEASAT by Arabsat could be difficult as Malaysia has a 40 per cent cap on foreign ownership of strategic domestic assets. -- BERNAMA