KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 19): The High Court (commercial division) has today approved the appointment of Datuk Tee Guan Piam as liquidator for Utusan Melayu (M) Bhd, which is undergoing a voluntary winding up.
This follows an application filed by Utusan Melayu on Tuesday (Dec 17) to appoint Tee, from UHY Advisory (KL) Sdn Bhd, to be its liquidator.
The application by Utusan Melayu was filed by Messrs Dennis Nik and Wong at the High Court with a certificate of urgency, which sought to appoint 55-year-old Tee, costs arising from the action, and other relief deemed fit by the court on the plaintiff.
Today Utusan Melayu's application was approved by High Court Justice Datuk Khadijah Idris.
In court documents sighted by theedgemarkets.com, Tee in an affirmed affidavit said Utusan Melayu has been placed under creditor's voluntary winding up since Oct 7 this year, and he had been appointed as the interim liquidator.
"As Utusan Melayu had been wound up by creditor's voluntary liquidation, the liquidator appointed needs to get the approval from the court to exercise any powers of the liquidator stipulated under the 12th Schedule of the Companies Act 2016," he said.
Utusan Melayu has a debt of RM323.98 million owed to secured and priority creditors, hence the need to liquidate its assets to pay the outstanding debt and other commitments, the documents further stated.
For this reason, Utusan Melayu sought the application to get court approval to undergo its exercise.
It was previously reported that over 700 workers of Utusan Melayu, which publishes Utusan Malaysia — the oldest Malay-language newspaper, had lost their jobs since Oct 9 after the winding up of the company.
According to the group, various measures had been implemented to strengthen its position, including offering a voluntary separation scheme (VSS), which was accepted by some 700 employees.
Utusan Melayu said it had also disposed of some of its assets to raise funds and maintain its cash flow but the daily circulation of the Utusan Malaysia and Kosmo! dailies declined while the RM4 million monthly advertisement target was not achieved, resulting in a critical cash flow situation.
Apart from delay in paying employees' wages, debts were also accumulated, and the company is now facing various actions from debtors.
The publication further said its board of directors had on Oct 7 approved creditor's voluntary liquidation and appointed UHY Advisory (KL) Sdn Bhd as interim liquidator.