Puncak Niaga minority shareholders hit out at Khalid

Puncak Niaga minority shareholders hit out at Khalid
Business & Markets 2013
Written by Chen Shaua Fui, fz.com (contributor to theedgemalaysia.com)
Friday, 05 July 2013 10:30

KUALA LUMPUR: The Puncak Niaga Minority Shareholders Watchdog Group yesterday warned Selangor Menteri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim not to use the state's executive power to arbitrarily make an offer — that is “unacceptable and violates the willing buyer, willing seller principle" — to the shareholders of PUNCAK NIAGA HOLDINGS BHD [].

The group, consisting 130 minority shareholders, said any proposal to buy the shares of Puncak Niaga by the state government has to be fair and acceptable to all.

"It is not logical for someone who has been involved in the corporate world for a long time like Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim to continue to make baseless allegations about our company and yet, there is no resolution by the Selangor government to the current standstill in water talks for the benefit of the consumers in Selangor and the Federal territories of Putrajaya and Kuala Lumpur," its chairman Muhammad Imran Abdullah said at a press conference at Syarikat Bekalan Air Selangor Sdn Bhd (Syabas) headquarters here.

He also slammed the Selangor government for making “unfair statements" about Puncak Niaga. The state government had cited “incompetence on the part of the concessionaires" as one of its reasons for buying the company.

According to the group, Puncak Niaga has been involved in the development of the Selangor water industry for more than 15 years and billions of ringgit had been spent by Puncak Niaga to help Selangor obtain a sufficient supply of water.

"When we attended Puncak Niaga Holdings Bhd's AGM in the past and current year, the company's presentation on the operations of Puncak Niaga (M) Sdn Bhd (PNSB) and Syabas were very detailed and professional showing the achievements of these companies in managing their operations," he added.

The group said it also wanted the management of Puncak Niaga to be more transparent in disclosing material information on the proposed takeover by Selangor.

Any form of price offer from the valuation of the share price, assets and liabilities of PNSB and Syabas must be referred and tabled at the shareholders meeting for approval — before the deal is done.

"Without the shareholders' prior approval, the management of Puncak Niaga cannot and is not authorised to proceed or to transact or to undertake any form of disposal or sale of the companies or assets," Muhammad Imran said.

The group also urged Puncak Niaga majority shareholder and executive chairman Tan Sri Rozali Ismail to refer to minority shareholders before selling the company shares.

The group, whose stake equity amounts to more than 20%, handed over a memorandum to CEO Datuk Ruslan Hassan, voicing their concerns on the acquisition and demanding that their interest be safeguarded.

Muhammad Imran said Ruslan had assured them that Rozali was not just a majority shareholder, but he also represented all the shareholders including minority shareholders.

"We are encouraged by what Datuk Ruslan said just now and Tan Sri (Rozali) will protect our interest. We look forward to that.

"[Ruslan] also said Puncak Niaga Holdings had received four offers from the state but not one has been tabled for shareholders' consideration because he feels that ... the deal did not represent the interest of all the shareholders including the minority shareholders," Imran said.

The last offer made by the Selangor government in February was RM9.65 billion for four water assets — Syabas, PNSB, Konsortium Abass Sdn Bhd and Syarikat Pengeluar Air Selangor Sdn Bhd.


This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on July 5, 2013.