Knm Egm Will See A Malaysia Vs Germany Battle Says Tunku Yaacob

---

 
KNM chairman Tunku Yaacob Khyra is confident of winning the vote at the EGM on Oct 16 as long as it is a fair battle. (MAA pic)PETALING JAYA: The heated tussle for the leadership of oil and gas services provider KNM Group Bhd is shaping up as a battle between Malaysia and Germany.
That’s how chairman Tunku Yaacob Khyra is characterising the impending showdown between the board and a group of shareholders led by German tycoon Andreas Heeschen who have requisitioned for an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) to boot out the nine-member board.
The EGM, which has been fixed for Oct 16, will also consider resolutions to appoint a new line-up of directors which includes Heeschen, Johor princess Tunku Kamariah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah Sultan Iskandar, and former KNM executive director Flavio Porro.
“Shareholders have a choice, you either vote for the German team or the Malaysian team. It is very important in determining if your shares are going to be worth 40 sen or one sen,” said Tunku Yaacob in an interview today on radio station BFM.
He issued a rallying call for KNM’s 35,000 shareholders to come out and vote on Oct 16. He also expressed confidence in winning the vote at the EGM as long as it is “a fair battle”.
A beautiful company
Tunku Yaacob, who is KNM’s largest shareholder with a 9.44% stake, claimed Heeschen is interested in the group’s crown jewel, German machinery and equipment company Borsig, because it is a “beautiful company”.
It is forecast to make RM100 million profit a year, and which was why KNM plans a listing for it on the Singapore Exchange (SGX), he added.
He revealed that Heeschen, with support from Porro, had previously attempted unsuccessfully to acquire Borsig.
“However, they couldn’t raise the money to do it, so now they’re going through the parent (KNM)t to take Borsig as it is a much cheaper acquisition,” he said.
He also said revealed a meeting with Heeschen a year ago. “We had a friendly discussion (to explore) if he can play a bigger role in the company,” he added.
A bourse filing dated Aug 31 revealed Heeschen has a deemed interest of 7.91% or 320 million shares in KNM.
Exiting PN17 status
Tunku Yaacob said KNM, which had fallen under the Practice Note 17 (PN17) classification in October 2022, plans to file an application to exit its PN17 status by year-end.
“To get out of PN17, you just need to produce two quarter of profits,” he said, alluding that KNM was on the road to profitability.
For the financial period ended June 30 (FY2023), KNM reported a net loss of RM157 million while revenue came in at RM1.07 billion.
As of June 30, the group’s debt totalled RM1.18 billion, a decrease from RM.126 billion a year ago.
Two days ago, KNM claimed its major creditors were supportive of its restructuring exercises. It said an unnamed major creditor had sent a support letter on its IPO plan for Borsig.
Post the IPO on SGX, KNM is expected to retain a 40% stake in Borsig while raising €190 million (RM950 million) in cash to pare down a large portion of the debt.
Additionally, KNM has other non-core assets in Thailand and the UK that it intends on monetising.
KNM shares ended half-a-sen or 2.9% lower at 17 sen, giving it a market value of RM667.6 million. - FMT

---