Pm Pnb Must Not Sell Prolintas Assets If It Hurts Nation Bumi Interests

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Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim wants Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB) to reconsider plans to sell off its highway assets under Projek Lintasan Kota Holdings Sdn Bhd (Prolintas).
Anwar said PNB's strategic review of the assets must be discontinued if it hurts national and bumiputera interests.
"As an institution entrusted with safeguarding national and bumiputera interests, PNB must maintain its role and holdings of important national strategic assets.
"As such, I ask that PNB take national and bumiputera interests into consideration in any decision-making.
ADS"This review should not be continued if it affects long-term benefits to unit holders or gives a negative impact to PNB's efforts to contribute to the people's well-being and national development,” he said in a statement today.
Early stage talks
PNB yesterday confirmed that it was in talks with several parties regarding its Prolintas assets, but stressed that this is still in the early stages.
It said the review of Prolintas’ assets was part of its regular portfolio evaluation.
According to The Edge, one of the interested parties is IJM, which also owns concessions to several highways through Besraya Sdn Bhd.
The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) owns a 18 percent stake in IJM.
It is not clear why exactly PNB's plans have caught Anwar's attention.
Two of PNB's main unit trusts, Amanah Saham Berhad (ASB) and ASB 2, are almost entirely exclusive for bumiputera.
For the flagship ASB, almost 78 percent of investors had less than 5,000 units as of the end of 2023, and collectively owned just 2.85 percent of ASB's units.
The top 10 percent of investors held between 50,001 and more than 500,000 units, or 81 percent of units.
The top 0.3 percent of investors held more than 500,001 shares or 14.8 percent of units. - Mkini

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