The listing of Felda Global Ventures Holdings (FGV) has trapped Felda settlers in a dilemma, as reversing the listing will create a market upheaval that will be disastrous to investor confidence, PKR de facto leader Anwar Ibrahim said today.
Speaking at a dialogue on ‘Malaysian palm oil: Meeting challenges through change' in Kuala Lumpur, Anwar said it had been an act of "daylight robbery" to press on with the initial public offering (IPO), despite strong resistance from the second generation settlers.
"Now that the settlers' future has been dashed with this fait accompli, the question is this: what can we do about FGV?
"Delisting FGV would create a market upheaval and shake investor confidence, although this confidence hardly seems high, given the sliding share price of FGV," he said.
Slamming the listing, Anwar said it had opened up government land, originally set aside for the economic benefit of the settlers, to be sold to "all and sundry", which "clearly goes against the fundamental objectives of Felda".
He added that the cash compensation paid to the settlers, the so-called "windfall" that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak had announced early last year prior to the listing, had shortchangedthe settlers.
Speaking at a dialogue on ‘Malaysian palm oil: Meeting challenges through change' in Kuala Lumpur, Anwar said it had been an act of "daylight robbery" to press on with the initial public offering (IPO), despite strong resistance from the second generation settlers."Now that the settlers' future has been dashed with this fait accompli, the question is this: what can we do about FGV?
"Delisting FGV would create a market upheaval and shake investor confidence, although this confidence hardly seems high, given the sliding share price of FGV," he said.
Slamming the listing, Anwar said it had opened up government land, originally set aside for the economic benefit of the settlers, to be sold to "all and sundry", which "clearly goes against the fundamental objectives of Felda".
He added that the cash compensation paid to the settlers, the so-called "windfall" that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak had announced early last year prior to the listing, had shortchangedthe settlers.
'Daylight robbery'
"It should have been nothing less than RM50,000 per settler," he said, not the mere RM15,000 they were given.
Anwar claimed that "undisclosed cronies" ended up with three times more FGV shares than that allocated to all the 112,000 settlers put together.
"This was daylight robbery. The FGV listing is perhaps our biggest example of brash corporate plunder. The greedy rich and powerful versus the weak and the marginalised," he said.
The only recourse, Anwar said, was for the government to "extract a special windfall dividend" to recompensate the settlers, and a special share allocation to make up for the "initial shortchanging of the settlers".
FGV's share price has been sliding ever since it hit an initial high after its listing last June. It has dropped below its IPO price of RM4.55 several times, the latest on Dec 27.
Local market analyst Alliance Research predicted last October that FGV's earnings would decline further in the coming three years.
Following the December dip, Anwar claimed, several institutions, including the Employees Provident Fund (EPF), were intervening in FGV's share price with bulk buying to prop up the flagging stock when it was worth only RM3.50 per unit at the time.
[More to follow]
"It should have been nothing less than RM50,000 per settler," he said, not the mere RM15,000 they were given.
Anwar claimed that "undisclosed cronies" ended up with three times more FGV shares than that allocated to all the 112,000 settlers put together.
"This was daylight robbery. The FGV listing is perhaps our biggest example of brash corporate plunder. The greedy rich and powerful versus the weak and the marginalised," he said.
The only recourse, Anwar said, was for the government to "extract a special windfall dividend" to recompensate the settlers, and a special share allocation to make up for the "initial shortchanging of the settlers".
FGV's share price has been sliding ever since it hit an initial high after its listing last June. It has dropped below its IPO price of RM4.55 several times, the latest on Dec 27.
Local market analyst Alliance Research predicted last October that FGV's earnings would decline further in the coming three years.
Following the December dip, Anwar claimed, several institutions, including the Employees Provident Fund (EPF), were intervening in FGV's share price with bulk buying to prop up the flagging stock when it was worth only RM3.50 per unit at the time.
[More to follow]
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