Fernandes: AirAsia Group to be listed on Bursa Malaysia in September

Capital A chief executive officer Tan Sri Tony Fernandes

KUALA LUMPUR: AirAsia Group Sdn Bhd (AAG) is poised to be listed on Bursa Malaysia in September, taking over the listing status of AirAsia X Bhd, said Capital A Bhd chief executive officer Tan Sri Tony Fernandes.

He said AAG is a combined airline under AirAsia Aviation Group Ltd (AAAGL), consisting of AirAsia subsidiaries in Thailand, Indonesia, the Philippines and soon Cambodia together, with AirAsia Bhd (AAB) which handles operations in Malaysia.

"The merger is to streamline the operation which aims to be the largest low cost carrier in Asia with the ‘One Airline’ strategy set to transform the face of global low cost travel,” he said during the exchange ceremony of a conditional share sale and purchase agreement between Capital A and AAG, today.

Fernandes said he believes the move will pave the way for Capital A to exit PN17 status after the divestment of its wholly-owned subsidiaries - AAAGL and AAB.

"So the first thing is to get the circular done for this transaction which I hope will be done in two weeks. Then we have to submit it to Bursa Malaysia for approval which I hope can be done quickly.

"Then we have 21 days to call for an extraordinary general meeting from both companies to approve this transaction. So once that is done, we have to get the cost to approve it for capital reduction, then we can list,” he said.

Post-divestment, he said Capital A will retain four core businesses, including Capital A Aviation Services, Teleport, MOVE Digital, and Capital A International.

He said AirAsia Group will be optimising their profitability with an efficient fleet model, with the company upsizing the A320s model and downsizing the A330s to A321 Neo models.

Capital A announced to the stock exchange yesterday it has entered into a conditional share sale and purchase agreement with AAG to dispose of its 100 per cent equity interest in AAAGL and AAB for RM6.8 billion.

Capital A also announced a proposed distribution of new ordinary shares in AAG to be received as consideration shares for the proposed AAAGL disposal of about RM2.20 billion to the entitled shareholders of the group. - Bernama