GEORGE TOWN (Aug 4): The legal suits between KNM Group Bhd’s wholly-owned subsidiary KNM Process Systems Sdn Bhd (KNMPS) and Mission Biofuels Sdn Bhd (MBF) have been settled out of court.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, KNM said KNMPS has entered into a settlement agreement with MBF, with the latter agreeing to release A$4 million (RM11.4 million) in its fixed deposit account, together with interests, to KNMPS.

“KNMPS entered into an out of court settlement with MBF to amicably settle and resolve fully and finally all claims, disputes, differences and issues in respect of all litigation/arbitration cases against each other,” it said.

To recap, it was reported KNMPS had served a winding-up petition on MBF in November 2012, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Australian-listed Mission NewEnergy Ltd, for a disputed sum of A$16.1 million (RM45.8 million) for goods sold and delivered and works carried out by KNM for MBF.

In April 2013, MBF counter-sued by filing a winding-up order against KNMPS over an A$3.8 million (RM10.8 million) claim, which was later dismissed by the Federal Court.

In today’s statement, KNM (valuation: 1.7; fundamental: 0.85) said both parties would take immediate steps in four days from the settlement agreement to discontinue and withdraw all proceedings against each other, without any admission of fault or liability.

“Each party shall be responsible for its share of the arbitrator’s fees and its own cost. Neither party shall continue or institute any fresh or further claim and/or action against each other and their respective directors; save and except for breaches of the settlement agreement,” KNM said.

KNM’s primary business includes manufacturing process equipment and providing turnkey solutions to international oil, gas, petrochemicals, energy and minerals processing companies and global engineering contractors.

Its shares fell half sen or 0.88% to close at 56.5 sen today, giving it a market capitalisation of RM1.1 billion.

(Note: The Edge Research's fundamental score reflects a company’s profitability and balance sheet strength, calculated based on historical numbers. The valuation score determines if a stock is attractively valued or not, also based on historical numbers. A score of 3 suggests strong fundamentals and attractive valuations.)