KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 25): The largest shareholder of property developer Symphony Life Bhd has called for an upcoming extraordinary general meeting (EGM) scheduled for Sept 23 to vote on the removal of three directors, whom it said it disagrees with on the direction they were taking the company, and to replace them with three others.
The resolutions to remove the directors were initiated by Theron Holdings Sdn Bhd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Muar Ban Lee Group Bhd (MBL). MBL emerged earlier this month as the largest shareholder in Symphony Life after Theron upped its stake in Symphony Life, which gave MBL combined direct and indirect stakes of 17.918% in Symphony Life (14.41% held via Theron).
"Our reason for moving these resolutions is to replace the outgoing directors, with whom we disagree on the direction on which they are taking the company.
"We are confident our view will be shared by most of the shareholders of the company, and we wish to persuade our fellow shareholders at this upcoming EGM to allow replacement and appointments to be made to the board so that these new directors may enact appropriate oversight over the governance of the Company’s decisions and safeguard the interest of all appropriate stakeholders," Theron said in a notice to Symphony Life's shareholders today.
The directors to be removed are Loi Chee Fong, Ng Ying Yiing and Teo Chiah Chy. Theron nominated Chua Heok Wee, Tan King Tai @ Tan Khoon Hai and Teh Eng Aun to replace them.
Notably, both Chua and Tan are directors at MBL, while Teh is a director at Unimech Group Bhd.
"We are of the view that the three candidates proposed to be appointed under Ordinary Resolutions 5 through 7 possess the right character and integrity and are well qualified with the right mix of skill sets, expertise and experience to be directors of the Company. They will be able to contribute effectively to the company and its subsidiaries," Theron added.
On Aug 10, MBL emerged as the largest shareholder of Symphony Life after its wholly-owned subsidiary Theron acquired 67 million shares from the company's former major shareholder Gajahrimau Capital Sdn Bhd, owned by Tan Sri Mohamed Azman Yahya. This raised Theron’s stake in Symphony Life to 14.41%.
Prior to that, Symphony Life announced Azman's retirement as chairman, and redesignated non-executive director Datuk Jasmy Ismail as its new chairman.
The group also redesignated executive director Chin Jit Pyng as the group chief executive officer.
At market close today, Symphony Life shares closed unchanged at 56 sen, valuing the group at RM368.91 million.