PNB just a minority stakeholder in IJM, says Fadillah on takeover offer

DPM Fadillah Yusof says Permodalan Nasional Berhad cannot decide on Sunway Bhd's bid, but will carry out an independent evaluation in line with standard capital market practices.

PNB has a holding of less than 13.5% in IJM, said deputy prime minister Fadillah Yusof.

KUALA LUMPUR:

 Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB) is only a minority shareholder in IJM Corp Bhd and cannot decide on Sunway Bhd’s proposed takeover of the conglomerate, deputy prime minister Fadillah Yusof said today.

Fadillah said PNB is only one of IJM’s shareholders and each shareholder would evaluate the offer individually, in line with standard capital market practices.

“The offer from Sunway will only be taken up if more than 50% of IJM’s shareholders accept it.

“As a minority shareholder of IJM with a holding of less than 13.5%, PNB cannot influence (the decision on Sunway’s offer),” he said in winding up the debate on the royal address in the Dewan Rakyat.

Fadillah said Sunway’s proposal was a voluntary general offer made to all IJM shareholders, and was not negotiated with any specific shareholder, namely PNB or any other institution.

He said PNB would assess the offer based on commercial aspects, such as the offer price, the intrinsic value of the shares, investment returns, and Sunway’s post-takeover strategic plans.

“Any decision by PNB to accept or reject the offer will be made independently, subject to governance processes and internal approvals,” he said.

IJM is essentially owned by various institutional funds, with its biggest shareholder being EPF with a 16.8% stake.

On the other hand, Sunway is controlled by its founder and chairman, Jeffrey Cheah, 80, who holds a 0.5% direct interest and a 60% indirect stake in the group.

Last month, Sunway served notice of its conditional voluntary takeover offer on the IJM board to acquire all 3.5 billion of its shares at RM3.15 a share.

Certain quarters, including Umno Youth chief Dr Akmal Saleh and the Malaysian Businessmen and Industrialists Association, criticised the proposed acquisition, with the association saying it threatened Bumiputera equity, undermined national interests, and undervalued IJM.

The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission later launched an investigation into IJM over issues involving corporate governance, procurement processes, financial transactions, and the ownership of assets overseas estimated at about RM2.5 billion.

It was said the case could derail Sunway’s proposed acquisition of IJM, but the company later said it was going ahead with its offer. - FMT