Thursday 28 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR: Tan Sri Mokhzani Mahathir and his close associate, Yeow Kheng Chew have both resigned from the board of the Sapura- Kencana Petroleum Bhd yesterday. 

In a filing with the local bourse yesterday, SapuraKencana (fundamental: 1.3; valuation: 1.8) said Mokhzani stepped down from his position as vice-chairman due to personal reasons. 

“The board records its appreciation to Mokhzani for his invaluable contributions during his tenure as a member of the board,” Sapura Kencana said in the filing. 

In a separate filing, SapuraKencana announced that Yeow, 65, who is known to be a close associate of Mokhzani, also resigned as a non-executive director of the company due to personal reasons.

Interestingly, Mokhzani and Yeow had on Dec 4 last year indicated their intention to deal in SapuraKencana shares during its close period.

According to the filing, Sapura-

Kencana said the duo had indicated to the company their desire to deal in its shares through Kencana Capital Sdn Bhd, which is Mokhzani’s private vehicle, during the close period.

Kencana Capital acquired two million shares on Dec 9, according to a filing. 

As at Dec  9, 2014, Mokhzani had a 0.16% direct stake in SapuraKencana and was deemed interested in some 610 million shares or a 10.38% stake via Kencana Capital and Khasera Baru Sdn Bhd, another of his private vehicle. 

Yeow had a 0.39% direct stake or 23.18 million shares in the company. 

Other major shareholders of  the company included Sapura Holdings Sdn Bhd with a 16.71% stake, Sapura Technology Sdn Bhd (15.9%), the Employees Provident Fund (14.23%), Seadrill Ltd (8.18%), and Skim Amanah Saham Bumiputera (6.23%).

The duo had on Dec 5, 2013 relinquished their executive directorships in SapuraKencana and redesignated as non-executive directors. Prior to that, Mokhzani was the executive vice-chairman of the company. 

In June 2013, Mokhzani, via Kencana Capital, acquired a 14.64% stake in Yinson Holdings Bhd for RM106.6 million. Back then, analysts reportedly said this could lead to a conflict of interest for Mokhzani as he was also holding an executive position at SapuraKencana.

This is because Yinson also leases out floating production, storage and offloading assets, an area SapuraKencana is also involved in.   

In July 2013, SapuraKencana issued a statement stating that it was deliberating whether Mokhzani’s acquisition of the stake in Yinson would create a conflict of interest. 

The board then decided there was no conflict of interest. 

SapuraKencana closed four sen or 1.54% higher at RM2.64 yesterday, giving it a market capitalisation of RM15.58 billion.

 

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on March 5, 2015.

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