KUALA LUMPUR (Feb 10): The relationship between FGV Holdings Bhd and its statutory body parent, the Federal Land Development Authority (Felda), is a complicated one.

After Felda’s failed attempt to privatise FGV that dragged on for years, both parties seem to be stuck between a rock and a hard place.

Sources say that Felda, which now owns an 82% stake in FGV, is still keen to pursue its plan to privatise the agribusiness group.

Meanwhile, FGV has proposed a corporate exercise involving the issuance of 364.8 million new Islamic redeemable preference shares (RPS-i) that will allow Felda to pare down its stake without diluting its control of two profitable subsidiaries FGV Plantations (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd and FGV Palm Industries Sdn Bhd.  

Against this backdrop, billionaire Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Albukhary has proposed to merge his rice-trading and distribution business with FGV’s consumer products division, in exchange for a stake in the joint venture.

It is also understood that there are also many interested parties that are still eyeing to get a block in FGV’s 51% stake in the country’s largest refinery MSM Malaysia Holdings Bhd. 

Amid the saga, FGV continues to work on improving its operation, looking for new revenue streams and working toward getting the import ban imposed by the US Customs and Border Protection on its palm oil uplifted.

In an exclusive interview with The Edge, its chief executive officer Datuk Nazrul Mansor explains that the issuance of the RPS-i is mainly to address FGV’s public shareholding spread that is below Bursa Malaysia’s requirement. 

Read about this and more in our Feb 12, 2024 issue of The Edge Malaysia weekly.

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