Annuar Musa: Details of Umno asset restructure are confidential

KUALA LUMPUR: Umno is the midst of restructuring its investment portfolios, as the party plans for its future, says Tan Sri Annuar Musa.

The Umno secretary-general said this following reports that the party had sold its major stake in the country's largest media group Media Prima to tycoon Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary.

"Many things have been going on with regards to our investments, but I cannot comment because it is confidential," he told reporters at the Parliament lobby on Thursday (July 4).

He also remained tight-lipped on the state of Umno's other assets.

"The investment portfolio is an internal matter and bound by Securities Commission regulations.

"We cannot make public announcements unnecessarily," said Annuar.

Sources told StarBiz that Syed Mokhtar had bought an 11.09% equity interest in Media Prima from Gabungan Kesturi Sdn Bhd in an off-market deal on July 2

Gabungan Kesturi is wholly owned by trustee company Amanah Raya Bhd, which is in turn wholly owned by the Government.

With the acquisition, Syed Mokhtar added another media company to his stable, the others being TMR Media Sdn Bhd, the publisher of The Malaysian Reserve and Utusan Melayu (M) Bhd.

Speculation has also risen whether Syed Mokhtar is mulling a mega-merger of media players in Malaysia, putting together several key national newspapers, including the New Straits Times, Berita Harian and Utusan Melayu under one umbrella.

However, the proposal was aborted less than two months after negotiations commenced, following stiff opposition within Umno, with many fearing a monopoly would emerge.