KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 3): Here is a brief recap of some corporate announcements that made news on Tuesday involving Boustead Plantations Bhd, Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd, Capital A Bhd, Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd, SWS Capital Bhd, Reservoir Link Energy Bhd, Kretam Holdings Bhd and Solution Group Bhd.

The acquisition of a 33% stake in the Boustead Plantations Bhd by Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd (KLK) from the Armed Forces Fund Board (LTAT) “is pending a final decision between the transacting parties”, the two companies said, noting that the cut-off date for fulfilling the condition precedent is Friday. Both companies had been queried by the stock exchange to confirm or deny whether the acquisition had fallen through after The Edge, citing anonymous sources, reported that KLK’s RM1.15 billion acquisition of the 33% stake had been scrapped after two deadline extensions for the cut-off date, first from Sept 11 to Sept 22, and later to Oct 6. KLK also clarified that it "had no advance notice of, and there was no confirmation of the government’s intention" to "help LTAT avoid losses", as reportedly said by Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim on Monday. 

Anwar on Monday reportedly said that the Ministry of Finance has allocated RM300 million this week to help LTAT address its liquidity issues, and is looking for a total of RM2 billion by year-end to "save" LTAT. The money would help LTAT avoid losses, Anwar was quoted as saying in news reports, as he revealed the financial support at the launch of a Felda Segalanya event at Felda Chemomoi in Pahang.  KLK had in August proposed to acquire 739.2 million shares, equivalent to 33% plus one share in Boustead Plantations at RM1.55 per share. As at Sept 29, KLK had accumulated 69.29 million shares or a 3% stake in Boustead Plantations from the open market.

AirAsia Bhd, the aviation arm of Capital A Bhd, has secured a five-year term loan of up to US$150 million (approximately RM708.46 million), to fund its aircraft and engines maintenance and working capital. The term loan was secured shortly before Capital A is due to submit its regularisation plan to the stock exchange on Oct 7.

Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd saw 11.2 million total passenger movement in August for both its Malaysian and Turkish airport networks — marking the second consecutive month it recorded more than 11 million total passengers. Local airports in Malaysia also saw the highest average total daily passengers at 240,000. Meanwhile, it saw 3.5 million and 3.9 million for the international and domestic sector in the same month. This was partly driven by the six state elections on Aug 12, the extra public holiday declared on Aug 13 post-election, and the National Day celebration that coincided with school holidays.

SWS Capital Bhd has announced several boardroom changes, including the redesignation of its non-executive director Datuk Chua Heok Wee to group managing director of the furniture and plastic ware manufacturer, effective immediately. Heok Wee, 50, replaces Teoh Han Chuan, 63, who has been redesignated from managing director to executive deputy chairman. Heok Wee is also currently group managing director of Penang-based palm kernel expeller manufacturer Muar Ban Lee Group Bhd (MBL). It also announced the redesignation of Chua Kang Sing, 32, from non-executive director to an executive role. Kang Sing is currently executive director of MBL and is cousin to Heok Wee. Both Heok Wee and Kang Sing joined the board of SWS Capital in August this year. This follows their emergence as a substantial shareholder of the company in August this year, after MBL accumulated shares equivalent to a 20.758% stake in SWS Capital. The duo currently hold an indirect stake of 24.357% in SWS Capital through MBL. Heok Wee also owns a direct stake of 0.793% in SWS Capital.

Energy-related services provider Reservoir Link Energy Bhd said its 51%-owned unit Founder Group Ltd (FGL) is considering a listing on the US stock exchange Nasdaq. It said that the proposed listing of FGL will offer enhanced financial flexibility through a new fundraising platform to accelerate the expansion and growth trajectory of its solar renewable business. The details for the proposed listing have yet to be determined and will only be made after the group has completed the finalisation and approval of the subsidiary's listing structure.

Kretam Holdings Bhd has raised its stake in Bahvest Resources Bhd to 12.22% or 151.49 million shares, after a series of transactions on Bursa Malaysia. Notably, Datuk Lim Nyuk Sang @ Freddy Lim is a common shareholder in both companies. Lim is the largest shareholder in Kretam with 1.09 billion shares or a 66.13% stake, as of July 2023. Lim also held 44.25 million Bahvest shares, representing a 3.57% stake.

Lim was among a group of shareholders who had sought to requisition an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) to remove three board members from Bahvest, namely the group’s founder and former managing director-cum-chief executive officer Datuk Lo Fui Ming, Fui Ming’s son, who is executive director Lo Tek Yong; and non-executive chairman Datuk Seri Dr Md Kamal Bilal. The trio resigned ahead of Bahvest’s EGM on June 13, and after the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) conducted a raid at Bahvest’s operation centre in Tawau.

Cansino Biologics (Hong Kong) Ltd has emerged as the second largest shareholder of Solution Group Bhd, with a 9.09% stake after Cansino Biologics (Hong Kong) subscribed to 43.968 million Solution Group shares at 19.5 sen or RM8.57 million via private placement. Cansino Biologics (Hong Kong) is a 100%-owned research and development unit of China-based vaccine producer CanSino Biologics Inc (CanSino), while Solution Group is the local manufacturing partner of CanSino to develop, manufacture and commercialise the CanSino’s Covid-19 vaccine in the Asean market. Solution Group’s largest shareholder is its group managing director Lim Yong Hew, who holds 13.92% direct and 4.08% indirect stake in the company.