KUALA LUMPUR (July 4): Former Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak said Umno had to dispose of an 11.09% stake in Media Prima Bhd as the latter's English daily, the New Straits Times, is no longer friendly to the political party.

"Well, it is necessary for Umno. Anyway, Media Prima is not effectively controlled by Umno. So if we have that minority stake, it doesn't mean much, because NST is not really friendly to us anymore," said Najib, who was formerly Umno president, when met by reporters at Parliament lobby today.

The Edge Financial Daily reported today that Umno has sold an 11.09% stake in Media Prima Bhd, the country’s largest media group, to tycoon Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary, who already owns equity interest in Utusan Melayu (Malaysia) Bhd and The Malaysian Reserve, citing sources.

With the shares in hand, Syed Mokhtar is now the third largest shareholder in Media Prima.

The block of 123.02 million Umno shares that was exchanged was held via Gabungan Kesturi Sdn Bhd. The shares were traded through an off-market deal at 60 sen a share on Tuesday, at a premium of 23.7% to its closing price of 48.5 sen that same day.

The daily also wrote that Umno is still left with a 7.96% stake in Media Prima after the share sale. The stake is held through Altima Inc, which is the fourth biggest shareholder in the media group that has presence across newspaper, television and radio in three languages.

It remains unknown if Umno will let go of the remaining stake it has in Media Prima.