Malaysia’s Anwar under pressure to ditch airport deal with BlackRock entity over Israel arms links

But the opposition and civil society groups say Anwar and his administration had failed to back up tough words with actions, after a consortium that includes UK-based Global Infrastructure Partners (GIP) – bought by BlackRock in January – announced on May 15 a voluntary offer to acquire all shares of Malaysia Airports Holdings Berhad (MAHB).

“As the world knows, BlackRock is the main financier for arms companies that supply weapons that enable the genocide in Gaza,” Chua Tian Chang of the Palestine Solidarty Secretariat said on Thursday at a rally outside Kuala Lumpur.

“At this critical juncture, national assets are going to be handed over to foreign elements that go against the aspirations of the people of Malaysia.”

With around a 7 per cent shareholding in Lockheed Martin, BlackRock is the company’s third-largest investor.

In March, the government denied opposition claims that MAHB would be sold to GIP, with Transport Minister Anthony Loke telling parliament that the reports were an inaccurate assumption.

But last week’s announcement by the Gateway Development Alliance consortium revealed that the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund – Khazanah Nasional and national private retirement fund EPF – are slated to raise their collective stake in MAHB to 70 per cent. Meanwhile, the remaining 30 per cent will be held by the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority and GIP, the BlackRock entity.

MAHB operates all but one of the 40 airports across the country, according to transport ministry data, and also owns and manages the Istanbul Sabiha Gokcen International Airport in Turkey.

The proposed deal, estimated to cost 18.4 billion ringgit (US$3.9 billion) once completed in the coming months, has the backing of the transport ministry.

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KFC