JANUARY 17, 2003

Malaysian Airports sells Sepang

The Malaysian Airports company has finally confirmed the sale of the Sepang International Circuit to the Malaysian government. The government paid just over $100m for the facility. The Airport company is 70-owned by the government and the deal is really little more than a "book" transaction which will help to ease the burden of debts on the airport company which has been struggling in recent months because of the downturn in the aviation industry. Malaysian Airports owns a 50-year concession for the Kuala Lumpur International Airport but is recent months has fallen behind in its fees being paid to the government and so the race track has been transferred to direct government control to help the situation.