KUALA LUMPUR, May 27 (Reuters) - Malaysia's sovereign

wealth fund said its consortium partner, Global Infrastructure

Partners (GIP), will not hire staff to directly manage Malaysia

Airport Holdings Bhd after a deal is completed to

take the country's airport operator private, state news agency

Bernama reported.

Khazanah Nasional Bhd Managing Director Amirul

Feisal Wan Zahir also said there would be no layoffs of MAHB's

current employees following completion of the deal.

"GIP won't be directly appointing staff or secondees to

manage MAHB," he was quoted as saying in an interview with

Bernama on Sunday.

"Instead, the management will be jointly appointed by the

consortium as a whole, and we will tap into GIP's technical

expertise when needed."

GIP and MAHB did not immediately respond to requests seeking

comment on Monday.

A consortium led by Khazanah and state pension fund the

Employees Provident Fund (EPF) announced on May 15 a conditional

offer to acquire MAHB shares it did not already own in a deal

that values MAHB around $3.9 billion.

Following the deal, Khazanah and EPF will collectively

increase their ownership in MAHB to 70% from 41%, while GIP and

the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority will hold 25% and 5% stake

respectively.

BlackRock ( BLK ) announced in January that it would buy GIP for

$12.5 billion, with the acquisition expected to close in the

third quarter.

The deal faces criticism and protests from Malaysian civil

society bodies, government and opposition lawmakers over

BlackRock's ( BLK ) involvement, alleging that the U.S. company has ties

with Israel.

Muslim-Majority Malaysia is a staunch supporter of the

Palestinians. Some Western brands in the country have been the

target of boycott campaigns over Israel's military offensive in

Gaza.

Khazanah's Amirul said in the Bernama report that BlackRock ( BLK )

was not a "direct partner" in the consortium and the U.S fund

manager's acquisition of GIP "has yet to be concluded".

BlackRock ( BLK ) did not immediately respond to a request for

comment on Monday.

(Reporting by Danial Azhar; Editing by Emelia Sithole-Matarise)