KUALA LUMPUR, Oct 7 — AirAsia Berhad climbed the most in four weeks in Kuala Lumpur trading after Reuters reported that founders of Southeast Asia’s biggest low-cost carrier are sounding out investors about taking the company private.

AirAsia shares rose as much as 8 per cent, the biggest intraday gain since September 10.

They climbed 6.4 per cent to RM1.33 as of 9:50am.

AirAsia group chief executive officer Tan Sri Tony Fernandes didn’t pick up one call to his mobile phone, and the company didn’t immediately respond to an e-mail seeking comments on the report.

Founders of AirAsia are sounding out investors to take the company private in a management-led buyout and are working with banks to secure financing, after the shares fell to their lowest levels in seven years, Reuters said, citing unidentified people familiar with the matter.

AirAsia’s stock has dropped about 50 per cent this year, making it the second-worst performing airline in Asia.

“This talk on privatisation has been circulating for a while, but we are inclined to think it is not probable,” Mohshin Aziz, an analyst at Malayan Banking Berhad, wrote in a note today.

“Even if this news has some truth to it, we think it is a challenge to secure financing.”

Taking AirAsia private will cost RM2.84 billion at current share prices, wrote Mohshin, who has a buy rating on the stock.

A June 10 report by GMT Research questioning AirAsia’s accounting sent the stock to its lowest-ever level on August 26.

Mounting competition, a plane crash at its Indonesian venture in December, and a requirement by Indonesia’s government to boost the equity position of the local operation or have its license revoked also hurt the shares. — Bloomberg