Tan family members end decade-long dispute

Sunday 11 Oct 2026

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KUALA LUMPUR: The dispute in the Tan Chong group of companies that lasted almost a decade appears to have come to an end now, based on what the three listed companies in the group — Tan Chong Motors Holdings Bhd (TCM), APM Automotive Holdings Bhd and Warisan TC Holdings Bhd — announced to Bursa Malaysia yesterday.

TCM, APM and Warisan TC said in separate but similarly worded announcements that Tan Chong Consolidated Sdn Bhd (TCC), the ultimate holding company of all the three companies, had informed them that TCC and the shareholders of TCC “have reached a compromise and settlement agreement in relation to the disputes between and amongst them…”

The settlement would involve “a progressive release” of a portion of shares in TCM, APM and Warisan TC, to the exiting minority shareholders of TCC, on condition that TCC would retain at least 33% of the voting shares in the said three companies.

In addition, TCC would be granted a right of first refusal to acquire any of the shares that may subsequently be disposed of by such exiting minority shareholders. Tan Heng Chew

It was not disclosed who exactly these “exiting minority shareholders” are. TCC was set up by the late Tan Sri Tan Yuet Foh and Datuk Tan Kim Hor. It is the Tan family’s vehicle that owns a 45.28% stake in TCM. In both APM and Warisan TC, TCC holds a direct 22.64% stake and another 20% stake via Parasand Ltd. TCC also controls Tan Chong International Ltd that is listed in Singapore and Hong Kong.

The feud in the Tan family became public in May 2001 when Kim Hor and his family sought a dissolution of TCC, in order to split up the respective families’ interest in the private vehicle. Then, Kim Hor had said the move was due to differences between them and the family of Yuet Foh that arose in 1999.

It was reported that the Kim Hor faction has a 45% stake in TCC while the other faction led by his nephew Datuk Tan Heng Chew has 55%. Heng Chew is the son of Yuet Foh.

The disputes in TCC later spread to the companies in its stable, namely TCM, APM and Warisan TC, and brought about several lawsuits and boardroom battles that hogged the limelight for years.

The court rejected Kim Hor’s application to wind up TCC eventually.

Subsequently, Kim Hor’s family left the management of Tan Chong group to pursue its own business interests. The family took control of Greatpac Holdings Bhd in 2005 and subsequently renamed it Wawasan TKH Holdings Bhd.

This article appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, June 24, 2009.

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