KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia, Oct. 12 (UPI) -- Khazanah Nasional, the investment arm of the Malaysian government, may consider combining telecommunications companies in which it owns stakes.
A planned merger of plantation businesses owned by state-run fund manager Permodalan Nasional Bhd could serve as a model for Khazanah in other industries, said managing director Azman Mokhtar. Khazanah has stakes in Telekom Malaysia Bhd and Time dotCom Bhd.
"Khazanah may have opportunities to do that in the telecommunications sector," Azman said at an investor forum in Kuala Lumpur Monday, Business Times reports.
Khazanah, which owns at least $7 billion of shares in more than two dozen companies including Malaysia's biggest carmaker and power producer, is overhauling some of those businesses to boost returns and lure investments.
It said last week it wants to encourage some companies to expand abroad and others to merge, sell assets or outsource nonessential businesses.
