His conglomerate MMC Corporation Berhad may sell a stake of up to 30% in MMC Ports, said one of the people, adding that financial investors and companies have approached MMC Corp. about their interest in the ports business. A sale could be a precursor to a potential MMC Ports listing on the Malaysian stock exchange in a few years, said the sources.

Deliberations were ongoing and no decisions have been made, they added, declining to be identified as the discussions were private. MMC Corp. and MMC Ports did not respond to requests seeking comment.