Ananda Krishnan to take Astro private?
Ananda Krishnan weighing possibility after company’s shares fall to record low
BILLIONAIRE T. Ananda Krishnan is weighing the possibility of taking Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd private after shares of the pay-television operator dropped to a record low, said people familiar with the matter.
The tycoon had revived deliberations about a buyout of Astro, which had a market value of US$1.9 billion (RM7.54 billion) at Monday’s close, according to the people.
Ananda Krishnan had been talking to potential advisers about funding options and was reaching out to some major investors to gauge their interest, said the people.
Astro shares jumped as much as 16 per cent, here, yesterday.
The company’s stock had fallen 46 per cent this year through Monday, making it the worst performer on the benchmark FTSE Bursa Malaysia KLCI Index, which was down 2.3 per cent.
“It’s an opportunistic move from (Ananda) Krishnan,” said Justin Tang, head of Asian research at United First Partners, a special situations investment and advisory firm.
“He would need to offer at least a 25 per cent premium for people to consider his buyout offer.”
Ananda Krishnan is Malaysia’s fourth-richest person with a net worth of about US$4.9 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. The tycoon controlled a 40.9 per cent stake in Astro as of April 10, the company’s latest annual report showed. Khazanah Nasional Bhd owns 20.7 per cent while Employees Provident Fund holds 7.8 per cent.
Astro’s satellite-television platform offered 189 channels to its more than five million customers, reaching more than 70 per cent of Malaysian households, according to its website.
The discussions were at an early stage, and there was no certainty that Krishnan would proceed with a take-private bid, said the people.
Ananda Krishnan is known for buying out minority investors in his listed companies when their stock is slumping, only to bring them back to market at higher valuations later.
Astro, then known as Astro All Asia Networks Plc, completed an initial public offering (IPO) in 2003 and was taken private by Ananda Krishnan in 2010. Its domestic operations were relisted just over two years later, with the overseas businesses remaining in private hands.
The tycoon has pursued similar tactics with wireless carrier Maxis Bhd and oil services provider Bumi Armada Bhd.
He took Maxis’ parent company private in 2007, then relisted its Malaysian business through a 2009 IPO that raised US$3.3 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
The tycoon bought out Bumi Armada’s other investors in 2003, restructured the company and sold US$882 million of stock to the public again in 2011, the data showed.
Speculation that Ananda Krishnan may buy out Astro previously surfaced in 2016. The company told Bursa Malaysia Bhd in November that year that it hadn’t received any confirmed proposal from its major shareholders.