Mahathir Studies Proposals to Buy or Manage Malaysia Airlines

(Bloomberg) -- The government is studying proposals it received for Malaysia Airlines Bhd., said Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad.

The four proposals were mostly from local companies, who offered to either buy a stake in the flag carrier or to manage it, he told reporters near Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday. He didn’t name the companies that sent in the proposals.

“We must find somebody with experience,” Mahathir said.

Malaysia is considering ways to turn around the troubled airline. Sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional Bhd., its sole shareholder, demanded the carrier to come up with a strategic plan earlier this year, after the fund poured 6 billion ringgit ($1.5 billion) into the company to make it profitable.

Privately held Weststar Group and Jentayu Danaraksa Sdn. were among suitors for Malaysia Airlines, Edge newspaper reported earlier, without saying where it got the information.

To contact the reporter on this story: Anisah Shukry in Kuala Lumpur at ashukry2@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Yudith Ho at yho35@bloomberg.net;Young-Sam Cho at ycho2@bloomberg.net

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