This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on July 13, 2026 - July 19, 2026
SOVEREIGN wealth fund Khazanah Nasional Bhd could be paring down its 70% stake in waste management outfit Cenviro Sdn Bhd, people familiar with the matter tell The Edge.
While Khazanah did not reply to questions from The Edge on the matter, industry sources say that one of the companies keen to purchase the stake could be French water and waste management outfit Veolia Environnement SA. Veolia also did not respond to questions from The Edge.
One source says, “The plan is for Khazanah to pare down its stake to 49%, or sell 21%, and for the new shareholder to buy SK Ecoplant Co Ltd’s 30% interest in Cenviro.
“This would give the buyer 51% or control of Cenviro. None of the big players will come in unless they have control. This way, the buyer is also assured of a strong partner in the form of government-owned Khazanah,” he adds.
Another source says, however, that Khazanah may be looking to exit the waste management business entirely by selling its 70% stake.
“We have heard that Khazanah wants to exit entirely,” a fund manager with a government-linked investment company says.
Citing sources, The Edge reported last August that South Korean environmental solutions outfit SK Ecoplant wanted to sell its 30% stake in Cenviro and that as many as five parties had placed bids — Veolia; South Korean conglomerate Samsung; Kumpulan Wang Persaraan Diperbadankan (KWAP), leading a group of investors that included I Squared Capital and Quantum Infrastructure Partners; private equity firm TPG; and Alam Flora Sdn Bhd, a 97.37% unit of Malakoff Corp Bhd (KL:MALAKOF), which in turn is 38.45% controlled by MMC Corp Bhd, the flagship of businessman Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Albukhary.
The extent of these talks is not known. It is also unclear if this sale by Khazanah is part of the same deal for SK Ecoplant to exit, but allows the buyer control while giving the sovereign fund a chance to cash out from the business and maintain a meaningful stake in Cenviro if it does indeed intend to keep a 49% stake.
“I doubt Khazanah will exit entirely. Paring down to 49% seems likely though. I doubt they want control of it,” another source familiar with Khazanah says.
Khazanah took over Cenviro, then called UEM Environment Sdn Bhd, from UEM Group in 2014, and there was talk of an initial public offering in five years. At the time, UEM Environment’s then CEO Khalid Bahsoon said, “Khazanah has expressed its interest to invest in sustainable development. There is strategic value in us that has caught Khazanah’s eye, which is waiting to be unlocked and eventually monetised at the right time.”
Khazanah wholly owns the UEM Group.
News of SK Ecoplant wanting to exit Cenviro surfaced in end-June last year. At the time, it was reported that the sale would value Cenviro at about US$300 million (RM1.27 billion then), putting SK Ecoplant’s 30% stake sans a premium at RM381 million.
SK Ecoplant bought into Cenviro in May 2022 as a strategic partner of Khazanah and Cenviro. It is a unit of SK Group, the second largest conglomerate in South Korea, and has close to 50 years’ experience running eco-friendly integrated waste management, energy, engineering and construction businesses. It has a presence in 15 countries.
At press time, it is not known how much SK Ecoplant paid for the 30% in Cenviro and why it is exiting.
In September 2023, SK Ecoplant signed an agreement with Cenviro to supply artificial intelligence (AI) solutions to optimise incinerator operations, to be applied at the latter’s incineration facility in Seremban, Negeri Sembilan. South Korean news reports had it that the AI solutions were aimed at raising operational efficiency without the need to replace facilities or equipment.
Cenviro has been performing well. For its financial year ended Dec 31, 2024, it posted an after-tax profit of RM39.4 million on the back of RM609.05 million in revenue. As at Dec 31, 2024, Cenviro had retained earnings of RM521.97 million, total assets of RM1.41 billion and total liabilities of RM853.15 million.
The company’s key assets include subsidiary Kualiti Alam Sdn Bhd, which owns and operates an integrated waste management centre in Negeri Sembilan. Operating since 1998, it handles a comprehensive range of waste categories, and has the requisite licences for services ranging from collection and treatment to recycling, recovery and final disposal.
Cenviro’s other businesses include solid waste management via subsidiary E-Idaman Sdn Bhd and electronic waste management through subsidiary Shan Poornam Sdn Bhd.
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