MAS not ruling out disposing ancillary businesses

Malaysia Airlines is not ruling out disposing its ancillary businesses in future in contrast to the current spinning off plan.

Group chief executive officer, Ahmad Jauhari Yahya said given the offer
price, terms and conditions being in favour of the national carrier, there was
nothing wrong in going forward with the disposal option.

At a media briefing here today, Ahmad said MAS was looking to spin off the
aerospace engineering, pilot training and safety academy, ground and cargo

services.

He said the strategy, in line with the company's aim of returning
to the black by 2013, was to empower the scaled down departments to spin off
into separate operating companies to reach full potential.

"However, if the price is good, why can't MAS sell off these units?," he
added. Ahmad said the present plan to spin off its subsidiaries would enable the entities to offer services to other airlines transiting in Malaysia.

"We are currently looking for potential partners, mainly to open
up the businesses for more opportunities and to raise cash," he added.

He said MAS was in the process of transforming its business module by
focusing on the core airline business. "Having partners will also reduce cost and raise cash at the same time. These units are the near-term priority for a spin-off," Ahmad said.

He said MAS now had to prepare the entities under its umbrella as a
stand alone before the spin off. -- Bernama