Halim Saad sues government for RM 2 billion over sour Renong deal

brownstone

Theyoll ni nak menentang syaitan agak2 lah...karang ada yg maut nahas helikopter lah, kena letup tanpa sebab la...jatuh bangunan lah..

totokreturn

perompak UMNO mahu duit lagi....

Dzulqarnain

NST Interview: Tan Sri Halim Saad Speaks Up: Gross Injustice Done to Me

If I was not forced out, and were given a free hand to manage the group, I would have been able to take advantage of the subsequent improvement in the economic conditions to list PLUS, realise the full potential of the Nusajaya land bank and grow the overall assets and business of the Renong/UEM Group.

Some of the strongest criticisms against you have been on the purchase by UEM of Renong shares after the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis and the following put and call option attached to the sale.

A: There have been certain false statements made against me relating to my put and call option on the Renong shares purchased earlier by UEM. Some went on to say that the subsequent cancellation of the put option by UEM was a bailout of me. I feel the need to correct the misstatements made and shed light on the actual events that took place at the time.

Following the 1997 Asian Financial Crisis, UEM undertook the purchase of a 32.6 per cent interest in Renong Bhd (its parent company) in the open market. These shares were not purchased from me or parties related to me.

To appease the minority shareholders, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, then the Minister of Finance and I agreed that I buy the shares for RM3.2 billion from UEM by way of a put option, although I was under no obligation to do so. I also had to pay a deposit of RM100 million

At the UEM Extraordinary Meeting held on February 14, 1998 to ratify the acquisition of the 32.6 per cent interest in Renong, 85 per cent of UEM shareholders voted in favour.

What steps did you take to fulfil the put option?

Going forward, I had the option of honouring the put option amounting to RM3.2 billion or making a general offer (GO) for all of UEM, which would have made UEM wholly owned by me and the put option would have extinguished by itself. The GO would have been undertaken at a price which would have been fair and satisfactory to all shareholders of UEM.

A Singapore-based investment bank was willing to fund the GO or put option. In view of the introduction of capital controls in September 1998, I sought the assurance of Bank Negara that the money required to fund the exercise could be brought in and taken out of the country at a later date.

Later, at a meeting with Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop, who was then the Economic  Adviser to the Government, he said: “In no uncertain terms are you to continue with your proposed GO (to take over UEM or Renong) or proceed with the put option (placed on you by UEM).”

This and subsequent actions by the Government forced me to sell off the group to Khazanah Nasional. A takeover by the Government or Khazanah would not have succeeded if I had not given my support. I did confirm my support by way of a letter.

You consequently left the Renong and UEM board late in 2001 following the takeover of Renong/UEM by Khazanah Nasional. Do you think that the takeover was necessary?

I left the Renong/UEM Board on October 3, 2001. Among the reasons put forward by the authorities for the Khazanah takeover of Renong/UEM Group were to prevent a systemic risk to the banking system in Malaysia and to enable a sustained restructuring of the group. This statement was in my opinion unjustified for the following reasons:

1) Renong/UEM was not in a situation where it required a bailout. There was never any bailout. Some writers and analysts have got it wrong. The bonds issued by PLUS/UEM/Renong in 1999 were A-rated and were adequately secured by the group’s internal assets and PLUS (Projek Lebuhraya Utara-Selatan Berhad) cash-flows. Furthermore, they were only due for redemption in mid-2006 and the rating was never downgraded. As such, there was no question of a systemic risk to the banking system in Malaysia.

2) The Renong/UEM Group was fully restructured by mid-2001, except for Putra (running light rail transit line), which was a stand alone debt, and the group’s prized assets were PLUS, the Nusajaya land-bank and Time DotCom.

Most of the debts were project financing and infrastructure-based, where it is common to have a debt-to-equity ratio of 80:20.

During my tenure, the Group companies paid all their debts in full (principal and interest), without being granted any haircuts.  Taking into account the size of the group and the extent of its borrowings, no other company listed in Bursa Malaysia can boast of a similar track record.

4) Nine months after I left Renong/UEM, PLUS was listed on the then KLSE (Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange), thereby proving that PLUS was ready for listing during my tenure. I had not rushed it because we had up to the year 2006 when the PLUS bonds were due for redemption and we would have gotten better valuation for the shares.

5) As part of Time DotCom’s restructuring, Singtel (the Singapore-based telecommunication service provider) offered RM2.1 billion for a 20 per cent interest in Time DotCom and 108.2 million shares in Time Engineering Bhd.

Singtel valued Time DotCom at around RM8 billion. Moreover, Singtel would have brought value in terms of expertise and skills to grow the business of Time DotCom. At the last minute, I was stopped from proceeding with the Singtel deal and because of time constraints I was forced to accept the less attractive alternative.

Based on the facts I have mentioned, it is clear that I have always had the intention and the ability to honour the call and put option, or alternatively undertake the GO (General Offer) for UEM. Furthermore, despite the Asian financial crisis of 1997, the Renong/UEM group was substantially restructured at the time of my forced departure.

In summary, a gross injustice has been done to me especially when I was denied or stopped from making the payment of RM3.2 billion for the UEM put option/GO and proceeding with Singtel on the RM2.1 billion deal, both of which would have substantially reduced the Group debt of some RM20 billion, most of which were project-related anyway.

Some other companies, like the Lion Group/Amsteel (with RM15 billion in group assets), whose RM10.2 billion debt was mainly neither project-related nor cash flow-based, were not touched and instead given preferential treatment, like exemption from burdensome import duties and granted Approved Permits.

If I was not forced out, and were given a free hand to manage the group, I would have been able to take advantage of the subsequent improvement in the economic conditions to list PLUS, realise the full potential of the Nusajaya land bank and grow the overall assets and business of the Renong/UEM Group.

- Link

Al-Patih

freebird posted on 7-6-2013 06:36 PM
hehe....ameno parti haprak ni penuh dengan melayu kampung yang cuba2 nak berniaga tapi tak pandai... ...

melayu kampung

melayu rural lah Beb ..ada bunyi corprate sikit....

Al-Patih

patutlah beria ia Rashiman tepik gambar ni



kalau tak PARAHmiswara "Kerajaan PKR" kena saman ....baru aku faham ...trima kasih ....

peYno

sebab tu saya benci melayu UMNO.. saya anti melayu UMNO.. tak sanggup saya jadi kaldai UMNO memualkan

pyropura

...tak berapa berani para cacai Pprt masuk tred ini....

blackred99

ifanonline posted on 7-6-2013 03:12 PM
Saman menyaman GLC dan Tajudin

Terdapat lebih 10 kes saman menyaman antara beliau dengan MAS, Tel ...

eh, tu name laki Datuk CT, betul ke?

batu kikir

ifanonline posted on 7-6-2013 03:20 PM
pada tahun 1994. jenayah yg di buat oleh bekas PM dulu main forex pakai duit rakyat...tapi kanto ...

Kau ni tak habis2 lah fitnah. Dan banyak sangat ke pahala?
Ada ka PM main FX?

P/S If you do not know about something or anything ............................. the best thing is to make "YOUR BIG MOUTH SHUT". Sekurang2nya tak menunjukkan kebodohan terlampau.

Innrukia

batu kikir posted on 8-6-2013 11:02 AM
Kau ni tak habis2 lah fitnah. Dan banyak sangat ke pahala?
Ada ka PM main FX?

Jgn taktau golongan urban ni rajin 'mengkaji fakta2' ni semua...
betoi ka tak belakang kira, yg penting kena sebarkan

batu kikir

Secara simplistik, Halim ialah pembeli "put option" Renong @ RM 3.2 billion. Bila pasaran saham menjunam, penjual "exercise" put option dan Halim terpaksa bayar nilai saham pada nilai "put option" padahal harga pasaran jauh lebih murah. Halim pikir saham sentiasa menunjuk aliran menaik dan harga pada masa tu tak mungkin turun.

Kata perbendaharaan pasaran option.
ITM - in the money
ATM - at the money
OTM - out of the money

batu kikir

Innrukia posted on 8-6-2013 11:15 AM
Jgn taktau golongan urban ni rajin 'mengkaji fakta2' ni semua...
betoi ka tak belakang kira, yg p ...

Itu lah pasal. Fitnah dahulu ................... fakta belakang.

P/S Dah jemu dengan taktik kurang aqal ni.

Innrukia

batu kikir posted on 8-6-2013 11:19 AM
Secara simplistik, Halim ialah pembeli "put option" Renong @ RM 3.2 billion. Bila pasaran saham menj ...

pernah blaja psl saham dulu2...
tp lama dh tinggal

airfilterbersih

janji bukak thread.....
janji @pyropura bole komen...

JANJI KOMENNNNNN....

airfilterbersih

Inn blajar saham dolu dolu...
@pyropura blajar apa??

~janji komennnnnn...

Innrukia

airfilterbersih posted on 8-6-2013 11:30 AM
janji bukak thread.....
janji @pyropura bole komen...

hang pun sama la kan usop
semua hang nk komen, kutuk forumer pun jd la kan
takbir pun kira ok la kan

airfilterbersih

aku temankan dieorg la Inn....
kesian...
jangn sisihkan org bodo macam dieorg Inn...
dieorg pun ada hak sbg rakyat malaysia yg urban jugak...

hak hak thuihhhh.

airfilterbersih

lupe nk takbir..

takbirrrrrrrr

mbhcsf

oh well Halim Saad ye....hmm...interesting...tak padan dengan business minyak ye...

well...interesting ye.

I guess I respect Bukhary more than him , dia happened to be at the right time and place je. rezekilah  kira. Time dia with Daim .

well...Halim Saad   hehehehe....

freebird

pyropura posted on 8-6-2013 07:13 AM
...tak berapa berani para cacai Pprt masuk tred ini....

kalau masuk pun, bagi komen kampung bodoh je...
rasa terhina bila bekas kroni ameno baru sedar diri kena tipu dek parti haprak...