FLYING HIGH

WESTSTAR Group may list its cash-rich aviation arm, Weststar Aviation Services Sdn Bhd as part of the conglomerate’s expansion plan, says founder and managing director Tan Sri Dr Syed Azman Syed Ibrahim.

THE Weststar Group may list its aviation arm, Weststar Aviation Services Sdn Bhd (WAS), as part of the conglomerate’s expansion plan.

Group founder and managing director Tan Sri Dr Syed Azman Syed Ibrahim said Weststar was talking to investment bankers on options for future growth, including plans for WAS to debut on the local stock exchange.

“Any growth, expansion or listing will be subject to the market environment. Any potential listing requires good valuation,” he said recently.

He said the stock market was in a recovery mode and it was premature to determine a suitable listing date.

Syed Azman is a major shareholder of WAS with a 59.5 per cent stake, followed by United States-based private equity firm KKR & Co, which acquired a 30 per cent stake in 2013 for RM642 million.

Syed Azman said cash-rich WAS had sufficient funds to finance its expansion and was bidding for more contracts which would require new machines.

“We are tendering for projects in Myanmar and Saudi Arabia. If we win these contracts, we need to buy 11 helicopters.

“We already have the funding. The listing will complement the funding.”

Syed Azman said the company was mainly involved in transporting personnel and goods for oil and gas companies in Malaysia and overseas. He said WAS could not solely depend on the Malaysian market as it would not be sustainable.

“That’s why WAS has been providing service in Morocco, Mauritania, Indonesia and Thailand in the last five years,” he said, adding that WAS had about 30 Leonardo helicopters in operation.

With more than 700 employees, WAS is the largest offshore helicopter transport provider in Southeast Asia.

It operates the largest AgustaWestland AW139 helicopter fleet in the region.

“We have the support of the largest Leonardo’s Augusta maintenance centre in this region. We employ more than 100 engineers and 124 pilots in our helicopter operations.

“We have maintenance bases in Kota Baru, Kertih and Kota Kinabalu. We are also setting up a maintenance base in Miri for the AW189 this year,” he added.