Shareholders agree to listing AirAsia Group
> Take over listing of Malaysian operations now, may see AirAsia Bhd spin off later
SEPANG: Shareholders of AirAsia Bhd (AAB) yesterday approved the proposed internal reorganisation that will see AirAsia Group Bhd (AAGB) assuming the listing status of AAB by March, with the possibility that AAB or Malaysian operations may be listed in the future.
AirAsia group CEO Tan Sri Tony Fernandes said 99.99% of shareholders agreed to the restructuring.
“It’s a big day for me, because this is something I believe in driving AirAsia forward as one airline. It gives us clarity of ownership and clarity of strategy going forward, that we will have AAGB owning all our investments, 100% in AAB and eventually all the airlines in AAIL (AirAsia Investment Limited) will be transferred to AAGB,” he told a press conference after AAB’s EGM yesterday.
Fernandes will be AAGB CEO while Riad Asmat will be AAB CEO. Riad is succeeding Aireen Omar, who has been designated as deputy group CEO (digital transformation and corporate services).
Under the newly established corporate structure, management will have the flexibility to further streamline the group structure and businesses/operations; and segregate the listed entity from the current Malaysian airline business as well as the group’s investments. Such structure will also provide ease of supervision and regulation by the management and the relevant regulators governing the airline industries.
Upon completion of the exercise, the management intends to further streamline the group’s structure and business operations to establish a leaner corporate structure with separately identifiable business streams to better reflect the group’s diverse operations; and to unlock the value of AAB’s investment in its subsidiary, joint venture and associate companies and facilitate future spin-offs of its operations/ businesses.
“It will enable investors to understand the company better going forward. We will hopefully consolidate all of Asean soon, Thailand being next hopefully. We will also give the investors individual P&L (profit & loss statement), so they can look at the minority interests. It’s the first step in terms of creating AirAsia into one economic unit.
“Our dream is that AirAsia could own 100% of all of the Asean associates. And all the shareholders are aligned. Thai shareholders would have a share in Indonesia, the Philippines, Malaysia. Malaysian shareholders would have a share in Thailand, Indonesia, Philippines.” He said while AAB will be unlisted for now, it may be listed in the future.
“There’s a possibility. I don’t want to close any venture out now. If you look at the sum-of-parts (valuation), we’re so unvalued. Now we’re ascribing value to each of our associates. Malaysia is worth more than its market capitalisation and analysts are ascribing value to Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand. So one reason we may do a small offering on Malaysia is just to ascribe value (so that it’s easier for analysts to look at it). The ultimate aim would be one day it’s all one mothership,” said Fernandes.
Shareholders also approved the proposed exchange of the entire issued share capital of AAB, with new ordinary shares in AAGB, on the basis of 1 new AAGB share for every 1 existing AAB share held.