Felda becomes majority shareholder of FGV with 81pct stake

 

The Federal Land Development Authority (Felda) has managed to control an 81 percent stake in FGV Holdings Bhd and its affiliates, including Koperasi Permodalan Felda Malaysia Bhd (KPF).

This is following the mandatory offer period on the remaining unowned shares which expired Monday.

In a statement today, Felda said 987.3 million or 27.1 percent shares were received following the mandatory general offer, while 125.6 million (3.4 percent) shares were purchased from the open market.

This means that Felda and KPF now control 81 percent of FGV shares, the Pahang government owns five percent, and the Sabah government and its premier investment arm, Sawit Kinabalu, own four percent of FGV shares, it said.

Felda chairperson Idris Jusoh said as a subsidiary, this would enable the management of FGV’s land lease agreement (LLA) estates together with oil palm mills to be integrated with other Felda estates, rendering them more efficient and effective.

“I believe that the cooperation between Felda and FGV will form a synergy that will bring benefits to both organisations.

“Moving forward, it is important that we hold on to the principle that we are one,” he said.

Felda director-general Amiruddin Abdul Satar said the cooperation between Felda and FGV is expected to provide added value to Felda, especially by focusing more on downstream activities that had been given less attention before.

“Downstream activities will provide higher profit margins and will be able to strengthen Felda's financial position more sustainably,” he said.

The acquisition of FGV is viewed as an important step in the government-approved Felda Rehabilitation Plan for the benefit of 112,638 settlers and two million Felda senior citizens.

Meanwhile, FGV in a filing with Bursa Malaysia said the public shareholding spread of the company stood at 14.01 percent as of March 15 and it continued to be deemed not in compliance with the public shareholding spread requirement in accordance with Paragraph 8.02(1) of the Listing Requirements.

The company noted that it has today submitted an application to Bursa Malaysia for an extension of time to rectify the shortfall and to allow sufficient time for Felda to formulate a firm plan on FGV’s listing status.

- Bernama