KUALA LUMPUR, July 25 — State-owned investment firm Ekuinas Nasional Bhd is considering possibilities for its holdings in local oil tanker operator Orkim Sdn Bhd, according to sources.
They told the Bloomberg news service that the private equity firm is studying whether to fully divest its 95.5 per cent stake in Orkim in a sale that could raise as much as RM1 billion.
Ekuinas is also considering an initial public offering of the firm as another option.
In 2014, Ekuinas acquired Orkim and pumped in an additional RM346 million into the firm.
Two years ago, Ekuinas accepted UMW Oil and Gas Corp’s RM473 million buyout offer but this fell through after global oil did not recover after plunging to US$26 (RM107.08) a barrel in 2016.
According to people familiar with the matter, Ekuinas now expects a higher price than what UMW offered in 2017 as rising oil prices has made Orkim more valuable.
Founded in 2004 as a ship broker, Orkim graduated to becoming a ship owner in 2009 and began transporting for oil-and-gas majors Petronas and Royal Dutch Shell in Malaysia.
Orkim currently has a fleet of 17 tankers with a capacity of 107,000 tonnes.
The firm declined to comment on the speculation of its possible sale.
