By Chan Quan Min
Focal Aims Holdings completed today a wholesale reshuffling of its board of directors, marking the completion of a reverse takeover by Eco World Development Holdings Sdn Bhd.
In regulatory filings to the stock exchange, Focal Aims announced the resignation of its entire board of directors totalling nine board members along with the concurrent appointment of seven new board members.
Out of the seven new board members, five members can be directly linked to either parent company Eco World Development Holdings Sdn Bhd or to SP Setia.
Links between SP Setia and Focal Aim’s new high-powered board of directors are unmistakable with the new board members counting as members former SP Setia chairman Abdul Rashid Abdul Manaf, current SP Setia board member Lee Lam Thye and former SP Setia board member Eddie Leong Kok Wah.
Abdul Rashid Abdul Manf
Abdul Rashid’s profile listed him as a full-time businessman. Before venturing into business he was a senior partner in a Kuala Lumpur legal firm. He has been closely associated with former finance minister Daim Zainuddin.
Aside from his SP Setia and now Focal Aims directorships, Lee Lam Thye is reportedly sitting on the boards of Amcorp Properties and Media Prima.
Eddie Leong Kok Wah sat on the board of SP Setia for over a decade holding additional roles in the audit, nomination and remuneration committees. He is currently sitting on the Board of MUI Continental and Salcon.
Eddie Leong
Also among the appointees today was Heah Kok Boon the current chief financial officer of Eco World Project Management Sdn Bhd and former head of SP Setia’s corporate affairs department. He is understood to have been instrumental in mergers and acquisitions as well as securing funding during his time at SP Setia.
Major shareholder Liew Tian Xiong was also appointed to the board of Focal Aims today. Liew Tian Xiong, 22 is the son of SP Setia president and CEO Liew Kee Sin. Liew junior is listed as a director of Eco World Development Holdings Sdn Bhd.
Rounding off the new board is Idrose Mohamed and Tang Kin Kheong.
Idrose Mohamed
Idrose is a well-known corporate figure in government-linked companies for his service as managing director of PLUS Expressways for close to eight years followed by short stints as managing director of POS Malaysia and group managing director of Prasarana.
Tang Kin Kheong brings to the board 23 years of experience as a practising accountant.
Today’s boardroom changes marked the completion of a reverse take-over of Focal Aims by Eco World Development Holdings Sdn Bhd and Liew Tian Xiong.
Eco World Development Holdings Sdn Bhd currently holds a 30% stake in Focal Aims while Liew Tian Xiong has a 35% stake in Focal Aims.
Liew Tian Xiong
Today’s events along with a change of name application earlier this month to rename Focal Aims as Eco World Development Group is seen to be a prelude to an eventual injection of Eco World Development Holdings Sdn Bhd assets into the listed entity.
At midday break, Focal Aims stock was trading at RM2.72 down one sen.
Between mid-September and early November the stock was trading in a band between RM2.00 and RM2.20. Prior to mid-September, when the takeover offer was first made known, the stock was trading under 90 sen.
In September, Eco World Development Holdings Sdn Bhd caused a stir when links between the company and SP Setia bigwigs became apparent.
SP Setia’s Liew Kee Sin’s perceived involvement in the Eco World group of companies could be construed as a conflict of interest. He and his wife admitted to financing son, Tian Xiong, in the takeover of Focal Aims.
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