Malaysia Airlines will be privatized

BEJING — Saying Malaysia Airlines needs a “complete overhaul” following two devastating air disasters, the Malaysian government’s strategic investment fund on Friday proposed buying the approximately 30% of the carrier it does not already own and delisting it as a publicly traded company.

Even before the disappearance of Flight 370 in South Asia in March and the downing of Flight 17 over strife-torn Ukraine last month, the carrier had been losing money. The twin plane losses severely exacerbated its financial problems, and its stock price has plunged.

“The proposed restructuring will critically require all parties to work closely together,” the fund, Khazanah Nasional Berhad, said in a statement. “Nothing less will be required in order to revive our national airline to be profitable as a commercial entity and to serve its function as a critical national development entity.”

Khazanah said it was offering more than $400 million for the shares it does not hold, paying stockholders a 12.5% premium over Thursday’s closing price.

Trading of the airline’s shares was suspended Friday in Kuala Lumpur, the Malaysian capital, but no immediate changes to the carrier’s operations were announced. The airline has about 360 flights per day to 60 destinations, with a capacity of about 50,000 passengers.

Khazanah’s managers said the proposed delisting of Malaysia Airlines represented “the first stage” of the restructuring program and that more detailed plans were expected to be released at the end of August.

Flight 370 vanished March 8 en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing with 239 people aboard, and, five months later, no wreckage from the Boeing 777 has been found. Vessels from Australia, Malaysia and China continue to survey a swath of the southern Indian Ocean floor in preparation for a deep-sea search, which is expected to begin in September.

Meanwhile, efforts to recover evidence and remains from the Flight 17 crash site in eastern Ukraine remain incomplete as fighting in the area between pro-Russia separatists and Ukrainian forces continues.

All 298 people aboard that Boeing 777 died when the aircraft bound for Kuala Lumpur from Amsterdam was shot down on July 17; so far, about 228 coffins have been returned to the Netherlands. The majority of those on board were Dutch.

Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte said this week that the search was being suspended because conditions in the area had become too dangerous.