Khazanah asks news website to stop reports on Malaysia Airlines sale

(Reuters) – Business news website Focus Malaysia today said Khazanah Nasional Berhad has asked it to stop reporting confidential information about the sale of Malaysia Airlines and has threatened it with legal action.

Khazanah said in a statement it has asked Focus Malaysia to stop releasing confidential information about the sale, saying the reports are damaging the process. A spokesman later confirmed that a legal notice has also been sent to the website.

Focus Malaysia last month published a series of reports about the sale of the airline, owned by Khazanah.

It said it received an email from Khazanah’s lawyers today asking it not to publish articles on the airline based on confidential material.

The lawyers said Khazanah reserves the right to commence proceedings for breach of confidence and to seek any other remedies as may be appropriate, Focus Malaysia said in a statement on its website.

The editor-in-chief said the portal had published the reports in the public interest.

The government has been seeking a strategic partner for Malaysia Airlines, which has struggled to recover from two tragedies in 2014 – the disappearance of flight MH370 and the shooting down of flight MH17 over eastern Ukraine.

The Focus Malaysia reports, citing internal Khazanah documents, identified bidders for the struggling airline and detailed its finances. It also said Khazanah had been pushing for AirAsia to merge with Malaysia Airlines.

In its statement, Khazanah said Focus Malaysia’s articles have “negatively impacted the corporate exercise” involving the airline.

“This has affected the potential for Malaysia Airlines to achieve sustainable growth and profitability,” it said, adding that articles have also harmed the fund’s reputation.

“Accordingly, we have requested for Focus Malaysia to stop publishing any information regarding the corporate exercise that would typically be considered confidential that comes into its possession,” the fund said.

Press freedom and independence “must be upheld together with some sense of responsibility and restraint by the press when it comes to a corporate entity conducting an on-going corporate exercise that is genuinely commercial in nature”, Khazanah said.

The Edge Financial Daily reported on Jan 24 that Khazanah had filed a police report over the news reports.

Khazanah did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters on whether it has filed a police report.

Reuters reported last month about the bids for Malaysia Airlines, citing sources with knowledge of the matter.