Malaysia Decides Against Acquiring Passport Supplier Datasonic Technologies After Rm7.5 Billion Valuation Estimate

The National Security Council said in a Saturday statement cited by Bernama that the government had decided not to acquire Datasonic Technologies, which provides citizen identity services. The council reaffirmed the government's commitment to safeguarding the security and sovereignty of Malaysians' identities, saying the matter would be governed through legal, financial, governance and security frameworks. Datasonic holds government contracts to supply passports and identity cards through 2032, with the agreements collectively worth about RM2.46 billion, according to Bloomberg.

NexG, Datasonic's parent company, said in a bourse filing late Friday that the finance ministry had asked it during a July meeting to submit an indicative valuation for a potential acquisition of the wholly owned unit. The RM7.5 billion figure was an internal estimate by NexG's management, not an independent valuation, agreed transaction price or firm offer, the company said. NexG described Datasonic as a core part of its business and warned that selling the unit could materially affect its operations, financial performance and listing status.