Incumbent KNM board claims support of creditors

 

The incumbent board of KNM led by Tunku Yaacob (left) claims it has won the support of creditors in the battle with a team led by Tunku Kamariah for control of the company.

PETALING JAYA: The battle for control of KNM Group Bhd took a new turn this morning when the incumbent board issued a media statement claiming they have the support of creditors.

The statement, bearing the official KNM letterhead, said the company held an informal meeting yesterday to which all creditors were invited to enable the board to address queries that some of the creditors might have on a proposed scheme of arrangement (SOA).

It said that “a sufficient majority of the creditors in attendance” repeated their support for the draft SOA proposed by the current management.

“This will be presented in a court-convened creditors meeting which will take place soon,” the statement added.

The informal meeting came on the heels of a court order, issued on Thursday, directing the company “to adjourn court-convened meetings to a subsequent date”.

In a filing to Bursa Malaysia yesterday, the board announced that the court-convened meetings would be converted into an informal meeting to seek the views of the scheme creditors with regards to the SOA.

This morning’s statement said the current board of KNM Group had undertaken to pay the principal in full for both secured and unsecured creditors.

It said there would also be a 12-month moratorium on legal action, such as petitioning for liquidation, against the company.

“However, the creditors reiterated this condition applies only if the current board and management remains intact,” the statement said.

It added that any change would result in a creditors’ petition for liquidation and for seizure of assets given as security, including the company’s German subsidiary Borsig Group.

It said a moratorium on all interest and penalty charges from April 1, 2023 to June 30, 2024 on roughly RM25 million in finance charges currently in the quarterly consolidated accounts of KNM Group would “no longer be there”.

The current board of directors of KNM, led by Negeri Sembilan prince Tunku Yaacob Khyra, is locked in a battle with a rival group led by Johor princess Tunku Kamariah Sultan Iskandar for control of the company.

An EGM, scheduled for Monday, will see shareholders decide on Tunku Kamariah’s proposal to replace the current board of directors with a new line-up handpicked by her. - FMT