This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on September 13, 2017

KUALA LUMPUR: UEM Group Bhd and the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) yesterday said they currently have no intention to sell their respective stakes in highway operator PLUS Malaysia Bhd to Maju Holdings Sdn Bhd.

In a joint statement, the two entities said they had received a non-binding letter of intent (LoI) from Evercore Asia Ltd on behalf of Maju Holdings, which indicated its intent to acquire the entire equity stake in PLUS.

The statement confirmed a report by The Edge Financial Daily yesterday that a bid was made by Maju Holdings for their stakes in PLUS.

Quoting a Maju Holdings spokesman, the daily reported that Maju Holdings, which is controlled by businessman Tan Sri Abu Sahid Mohamed, had submitted a formal bid via its financial advisers to UEM Group and the EPF.

UEM Group has a 51% stake in PLUS, while the EPF controls the remainder 49%.

“We are unable to comment further as we are in the midst of reviewing the letter of intent, and until we conclude the review process, our current stand remains that we have no intention of selling our respective stakes,” UEM Group and the EPF’s joint statement read.

PLUS has five concessions. They are Projek Lebuhraya Utara-Selatan Bhd which has under its umbrella the North-South Expressway, the New Klang Valley Expressway, Federal Highway Route 2 and Seremban-Port Dickson Highway; Expressway Lingkaran Tengah Sdn Bhd which includes the North-South Expressway Central Link; Linkedua (M) Bhd, which owns the Malaysia-Singapore Second Crossing; Konsortium Lebuhraya Butterworth-Kulim Sdn Bhd, also known as the Butterworth-Kulim Expressway; and Penang Bridge Sdn Bhd.

UEM Group went on to say that PLUS is one of its long-standing core businesses and that it will continue to ensure that PLUS provides its customers with good and beneficial services as well as safe highway infrastructure.

“PLUS is also one of the EPF’s core investments (49% stake) that fits well into the retirement fund’s risk profile benefitting [its] 14 million members,” the statement further read.