Ajinomoto, a BMQ50 constituent, announced on June 22, 2026, that its major shareholder, Ajinomoto Japan, will privatize Ajinomoto Malaysia. It is a move that has been a long time coming. The transition began when the company’s new smart factory in Bandar Baru Enstek was completed in 2023, followed by the sale of its iconic old plant in Jalan Kuchai Lama.

That original Kuchai Lama plant had been the company’s home since operations commenced there in 1965. At the time, Malaysia was a mere two-year-old nation, freshly independent. The British were slowly moving out, yet their colonial presence could still be distinctly felt. Even the Malayan Dollar remained in circulation until 1967, before Bank Negara Malaysia finally issued the Malaysian Dollar.

It was remarkably prescient for Ajinomoto to establish an operation in Malaysia during such a nascent period. It was even more visionary when they decided to transition into a publicly listed firm in 1968. That year, it stood as one of only 89 Malaysian companies listed on the Stock Exchange of Malaysia and Singapore.

Now, 58 years later, the company is finally calling it quits on the public market. Many of its corporate compatriots from that era are likely long gone. The business is certainly still growing, but at a much more mature, slower pace. Revenue compound annual growth rate (CAGR) since 1995 has hovered at just over 6%.

It resembles a wise older gentleman—he still has his capabilities, but a younger generation is slowly taking charge of the world around him. Reinvention becomes more difficult with each passing year, and the current, hyper-fast market era is simply no longer the one it was built to understand.

In an age where AI companies are commanding mind-boggling valuations and issuing massive amounts of stock, Ajinomoto Malaysia stands in stark contrast. Its share count has remained completely unchanged since 2003, and it seems it no longer sees the necessity of remaining listed.

Perhaps it is just a coincidence, but it feels somewhat poetic that the privatization announcement came just a day after the Father’s Day weekend. It felt almost like a father figure quietly sulking because he isn’t shown the love he used to receive. Today, the young and chic darling of the market is the tech index, with AI seemingly vacuuming up all the attention.

Ajinomoto has more than done its part for the country’s development. Wherever it is heading next, it no longer wishes to bring along a modern class of investors who perhaps never truly understood its steady, traditional value.

It said so itself. Its average daily trading volume sitting at a mere 0.13% of the free float.

Sayonara, Ajinomoto.

It has been a truly good run.