SATS offers up to RM218m for 49% stake in Malaysian airline caterer

AIRPORT services group SATS is eyeing a significant chunk of an inflight meals caterer that serves Malaysia Airlines.

It has made a conditional binding offer to buy 49 per cent of Brahim's Airline Catering Holdings (BACH) for up to RM218 million (S$70.7 million), it said in a Singapore Exchange filing on Thursday.

The purchase sum includes RM110 million plus an additional "earn-out" sum of up to RM108 million if certain financial targets are met, SATS said.

The offer was made to the board of Kuala Lumpur-listed Brahim's Holdings, the parent company. SATS said Brahim's Holdings was "currently considering the terms of the offer".

Brahim's Holdings said in a Bursa Malaysia filing on Thursday that it would "appoint the relevant advisers in due course and deliberate on the terms".

BACH owns 70 per cent of Brahim's Airlines Catering Sdn Bhd (BAC), with Malaysia Airlines holding the remaining 30 per cent.

BAC agreed earlier this year to a new catering contract with Malaysia Airlines that was shorter and up to 25 per cent cheaper than its previous contract, according to media reports.