'Why let go 60% majority stake in FGVH?'

Petaling Jaya Utara member of parliament Tony Pua has questioned the move to let go the government's 60 percent ownership in Felda Global Ventures Holdings.

“If FGVH is truly going to be 'transformed' into a massively profitable global company, why is the government cashing out as if it cannot wait to get rid of its stake?” asked Pua in a statement today.

Pua said if prime minister Najib Razak's words were to be believed, the government should have maintained its share in FGVH to reap returns as predicted.

Scrutinising the FGVH prospectus for its controversial listing at Bursa Malaysia, Pua pointed out that 40 percent of the RM9.96 billion would be taken by FGVH for operation and expansion purposes while the BN government would take the other 60 percent.

“The amount raised by the Government will be even larger than the amount raised by FGVH at RM5.5 billion,” said Pua, adding that it was not mentioned in the prospectus why the amount was raised by BN government besides financing the RM15,000 windfall to settlers costing RM1.69 billion.

Pua reiterated that there was “more than it meets the eye” in the FGVH listing.

“Given the huge sum of money involved as well as the interest of 112,635 settlers at stake, we call upon the government to be completely transparent and accountable in the FGVH IPO exercise that is inundated with question marks,” he urged.

-Harakahdaily