This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on October 20, 2025 - October 26, 2025

THE Lim family is close to finalising plans to privatise floating, production, storage and offloading (FPSO) outfit Yinson Holdings Bhd (KL:YINSON) — in which it has a 27.73% stake — by year end, sources familiar with the company tell The Edge.

It is understood that Maybank Investment Bank Bhd has been roped in to assist in the deal, which so far involves the Lim family and New York-based investment firm Stonepeak Partners LP. If all goes well, it may also include other existing shareholders of Yinson.

“The plan is simple actually, privatise it (Yinson) here [in Malaysia] and list it else where where better valuations can be obtained, maybe two or three years down the road,” a source familiar with the deal says on condition of anonymity.

He says a flotation exercise in New York is being considered, but no decision has been made yet.

Another source who is aware of the planned privatisation of Yinson says he would not be surprised if the Lim family were to rope in substantial shareholders such as Employees Provident Fund (EPF) (17.09%) in the deal, but this remains conjecture at press time.

Pension fund Retirement Fund Inc (KWAP), also holds 7.01% equity interest in Yinson.

When news first broke of the potential privatisation in June this year, executive chairman Lim Han Weng who is the patriach of the Lim family was quoted as saying “the company was mot in discussion with any third parties in respect of any buyout exercise.” Bloomberg had broken the story quoting sources. 

Nonetheless, Yinson went on to add in a Bursa Malaysia filing: “After consultation with its major shareholders, the company was advised by Lim Han Weng that they are in exploratory discussions with various parties with reference to potential corporate proposal(s) concerning their shareholding in Yinson. However, given that the discussions are still at an exploratory stage, there is currently no conclusive indication that the discussions would give rise to a corporate proposal involving Yinson.”

According to the Bloomberg report, Yinson could be valued at up to RM9 billion or US$2.1 billion at the exchange rate then, prompting its shares to strengthen almost 14%, and the price has since maintained at about the same levels.

Last Friday, Yinson’s share price ended trading at RM2.42, translating into a market capitalisation of RM7.07 billion.

It is worth noting that Yinson continued its share buybacks until April this year, a period during which its stock hit a multi-year low of RM1.75.

Yinson’s FY2025 annual report shows that it repurchased 155.31 million shares on the open market for RM392 million, translating into an average price of RM2.53 apiece, which was financed by internally generated funds.

The repurchased shares were held as treasury shares, and 128.3 million shares were cancelled.

For its six months ended July 31, 2025, Yinson chalked up a net profit of RM216 million on the back of RM2.59 billion in revenue, much lower than a net profit of RM406 million and RM4.36 billion in revenue in the corresponding period a year ago.

The decline in earnings was mainly due to higher finance costs, lower contribution from its engineering, procurement, construction, installation and commissioning business activities (based on progress of construction), as well as higher administrative expenses given that the group was transitioning from a capex-intensive EPCIC phase to an operational phase.

As at end-July this year, Yinson had cash and bank balances of RM4.26 billion. On the other side of the balance sheet, it had long-term loan and borrowings of RM16 billion and short-term loans and borrowings of RM1.25 billion. Its retained earnings stood at RM3.5 billion.

With a fleet size of nine FPSOs and another two on order, Yinson is among the largest FPSO players in the world. It has an order book worth over US$19 billion (RM80.3 billion) extending to 2048. 

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