This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on July 20, 2026 - July 26, 2026

MMC Port Holdings Bhd’s rise as Malaysia’s largest port operator happened over two decades under the watch of business tycoon Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary’s MMC Corp Bhd.

Incorporated in 2006 as MMC Ventures Sdn Bhd with an issued share capital of RM3.56 billion, it served as MMC Corp’s wholly-owned port operating arm and was renamed MMC Port in 2015. It converted into a public company in 2025 in preparation for a listing on Bursa Malaysia’s Main Market. Its port business, however, predates its incorporation.

The building of MMC’s port empire began in Johor. In 2001, MMC Corp bought 50.1% of Pelabuhan Tanjung Pelepas Sdn Bhd (PTP) from Syed Mokhtar’s Seaport Terminal (Johore) Sdn Bhd (STJ).

PTP was itself a bold greenfield project. Built from scratch in 1999 on the site of a rural fishing village in Johor, the port was developed at an initial cost of RM2.4 billion in less than two years through a 60:40 joint venture (JV) between STJ and  Khazanah Nasional Bhd. The sovereign wealth fund subsequently divested its 40% stake to STJ. In 2000, Denmark’s APM Terminals BV, the terminal operating arm of AP Moller-Maersk A/S, acquired a 30% equity stake in PTP. Conceived as an alternative transshipment hub to Singapore, PTP secured Maersk Sealand and Taiwan’s Evergreen Marine Corp as its anchor customers, both of which had previously used the facilities of Singapore’s PSA Corp.

MMC Corp deepened its investment in PTP in 2005 by acquiring STJ’s remaining 19.9% stake, increasing its shareholding to 70%. The same year, the group expanded further in Johor by acquiring a 51.7% stake in Johor Port Sdn Bhd from STJ for RM426.89 million. The deal triggered a mandatory general offer for the remaining 48.26% stake, valued at RM398.11 million. Following the RM825 million acquisition, Johor Port became a wholly-owned subsidiary of MMC Corp.

A decade later, MMC Corp began extending its presence up north, starting with Port Klang. In 2015, MMC Corp raised its stake in NCB Holdings Bhd to 99.125%. NCB owned Northport (Malaysia) Bhd, one of Port Klang’s two major container terminals, as well as haulage operator Kontena Nasional Bhd. Following the completion of a selective capital reduction and repayment exercise in 2023, NCB became a wholly-owned subsidiary of MMC Port.

In 2016, the group entered Penang with the acquisition of a 49% stake in Penang Port Sdn Bhd (PPSB) from STJ for RM200 million. It completed the takeover in 2018 by purchasing the remaining 51% stake for RM220 million. STJ had acquired PPSB from the federal government for RM170 million through a restricted tender in 2014.

Expansion continued in 2017 when MMC Corp acquired a 70% stake in Tanjung Bruas Port Sdn Bhd in Melaka for RM21 million. In the same year, its subsidiary SPT Services Sdn Bhd secured a 25-year operatorship of the Solid Product Jetty at the Pengerang Integrated Complex in Johor.

At the same time, MMC Corp expanded its cruise terminal business. In 2018, PPSB entered into a 60:40 JV with Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd to redevelop the Swettenham Pier Cruise Terminal to accommodate larger ships.

Today, MMC Port operates five major ports — PTP, Johor Port, Northport, Penang Port and Tanjung Bruas Port — which together handled 18.5 million 20-foot equivalent units (TEUs) of containers in 2024, making the group Malaysia’s largest port operator. Its flagship asset PTP alone handled 12.3 million TEUs in 2024, accounting for roughly two-thirds of the group’s throughput. The terminal, which has 14 berths spanning a combined 5.04km, is the country’s largest container terminal. By comparison, Westports in Pulau Indah, Selangor, handled 11 million TEUs in 2024.

Beyond its core port operations, MMC Port also operates SPT Services, Andaman Port in Kedah, Port Klang Cruise Terminal and Langkawi Cruise Terminal.

According to the Companies Commission of Malaysia filings, MMC Port posted a net profit of RM761.12 million for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2024 (FY2024), down 5.5% from a record RM805.46 million a year earlier, despite revenue rising 10% to RM4.36 billion from RM3.96 billion.

In comparison, Westports Holdings Bhd (KL:WPRTS), which is undergoing a massive RM39.6 billion expansion to build eight additional container berths to add to its current 32, reported a net profit of RM897.98 million for FY2024, up 15.2% from RM779.43 million in FY2023, while revenue increased 8.9% to RM2.34 billion from RM2.15 billion.

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