Malakoff open to expand via M&As

02 December 2009 , By The Star

Malakoff Corp Bhd is always looking for opportunities to expand its operations, and does not rule out the possibility of doing so via mergers and acquisitions, said managing director and chief executive officer Ahmad Jauhari Yahya.

But in considering its options, the key issue the company had to contend with was ensuring that its operational competitiveness remained intact, he told StarBiz after the opening of the company’s Tanjung Bin power plant here yesterday.

“We will expand only on a competitive basis,” Jauhari said, adding that there was still some available land next to the Tanjung Bin power plant which would enable Malakoff to expand its generation capacity should the need arise in the future.

(There is an estimated 100ha of unused land surrounding the 200ha project that was completed in 2007 at a cost of RM7.8bil.)

However, Jauhari strongly denied a recent news report that Malakoff was planning to buy a substantial stake in Jimah power plant, the independent power producer in Port Dickson.

Boasting a total domestic generation capacity of 5,020 megawatts, or about 25% of Peninsular Malaysia’s installed capacity, from its six power stations, Malakoff is already the largest private power producer in the country.

The 2,100-MW coal-fired Tanjung Bin power plant, in which Malakoff owns a 90% stake and the Employees Provident Fund 10%, is the biggest of its kind in South-East Asia. It contributes around 42% of Malakoff’s total generation capacity in the country.

According to Malakoff chairman Tan Sri Abdul Halim Ali, the Tanjung Bin power plant has become an integral part of the socio-economy of the southern region of Malaysia.

“It will ensure that we have sufficient energy to fuel the growth of this region, particularly Iskandar Malaysia, a key economic corridor for the country,” he said.

The plant currently engages about 500 local workers directly and indirectly through sub-contracts for the operation and maintenance of the plant. Of the total workforce, 50% are from the surrounding areas within the local district.