This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on July 14, 2025 - July 20, 2025
JULY 18 could mark a day of reckoning for shareholders of Kumpulan Jetson Bhd (KL:JETSON), a company that has not been performing for some time now. The court is set to rule on a request by a group of shareholders seeking to convene an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) to remove the current board of directors.
The conflict began on April 23 when five shareholders of Jetson — Yudishthiran Doraisamy, Dhayalini P G Doraisamy, P G Doraisamy P Gopal, Wong Hong Yuk and Teoh Cheng Fang, who collectively held 10.68% in Jetson — sought to remove the company’s five directors: Tunku Datuk Nooruddin Tunku Datuk Seri Shahbuddin, Edward Ng Kah Jiun, Louise Paul Joseph Paul, Goh Rui Yee and Hong Cheong Liang.
The proposed replacements for these board members are Wong, Teoh, Ilham Abadi Idris, Looi Mun Fei and Ranjit Singh Kartar Singh. Paul and Hong resigned from the board of Jetson on May 8, however, citing reasons such as “personal commitments” and to “pursue his personal interests”.
Battle for control
While the feud is understood to be between the five shareholders of Jetson and the company’s former executive chairman Datuk Teh Kian An, who has 10.08% equity interest the company, it remains unknown how other shareholders, such as Datuk Sri Baljinder Singh Surinder Singh, will vote. Baljinder surfaced as a substantial shareholder in Jetson last September and had a 12.39% shareholding in the company as at June 26, 2025. The cause of the feud was unclear at press time.
Kian An resigned from Jetson’s board in October 2023 for health reasons but is understood to be still on the boards of its subsidiaries and actively involved in the group’s operations.
Meanwhile, Baljinder acquired his stake in Jetson as part of the company’s RM25.5 million acquisition of a 51% equity interest in Magical Era (M) Sdn Bhd. The deal was settled through RM15.3 million in cash and the issuance of 41.67 million new Jetson shares at 24.48 sen each, totalling RM10.2 million.
The acquisition is part of a broader corporate exercise announced by Jetson in early 2024, which includes a RM90 million capital reduction to offset the company’s accumulated losses of RM82.33 million as at end-2022, a private placement of up to 40% of its share base, and an employee share option scheme (ESOS) covering up to 15% of shares.
Magical Era’s key asset is a 63.44-acre tract in Alor Gajah, Melaka, valued at RM63.33 million. Jetson also committed to funding its share of the earthworks, excavation, roadworks construction, water supply, sewerage systems and electrical and telecommunication for the Alor Gajah land at a cost of RM7.6 million.
According to Jetson’s Bursa Malaysia announcements, the plan was to “sell the Alor Gajah land as a whole or by plots with the intended infrastructure works at a premium to prospective buyers if the opportunity arises, in order for the group to unlock and realise the value of its investment in the aforementioned land”.
The share capital reduction, share placement and land acquisition have been completed.
As the shareholder feud escalated, Jetson moved to issue 60.4 million shares under its ESOS in July — equivalent to about 15% of its existing share base. Notably, 40.63 million shares, or 67% of the planned issuance, were allocated to Jetson’s executive director.
The ESOS implementation was halted, however, following a requisition to remove the current board. This marks the third attempt in less than two years to unseat Jetson’s directors and gain control of the company.
In December 2023 and again in February 2024, Teh Chee Beng — sister of Kian An — attempted to remove Jetson’s board and seize control of the company. It is understood that Kian Ann managed to fend off Chee Beng’s faction both times.
What is there to fight for in Jetson?
Although known as a construction company, Jetson had in end-March last year disposed of its wholly-owned Jetson Construction Sdn Bhd (JCSB) for RM100,000, along with its respective subsidiaries.
JCSB is understood to have been weighing down on Jetson.
From 2016 to 2024, Jetson managed to chalk up a profit in only one year. In January 2024, it changed its financial year-end to March from December. It managed to rake in a net profit of RM10.76 million from revenue of RM276.84 million for the financial period ended March 31, 2024.
Jetson’s manufacturing division includes three companies: Kumpulan Jebco (M) Sdn Bhd, which produces anti-vibration rubber products for the automotive sector; Jebplus Sdn Bhd, which specialises in plastic injection moulding and manufacturing industrial pails for the paint and lubricant, adhesives and food industries; and GRP Sdn Bhd, which is involved in adhesives, sealants and coating products in Malaysia.
In addition, Jetson’s hostel management division, held under 85.12%-owned PJS Development Sdn Bhd, manages 14 blocks of student hostels and related facilities for Universiti Putra Malaysia under a long-term concession agreement.
For the financial year ended March 31, 2025 (FY2025), Jetson posted a net loss of RM22.15 million on revenue of RM197.32 million. Among its three business segments, only the manufacturing division was profitable, contributing RM189.6 million in revenue and RM7.2 million in operating profit.
If the requisitionists succeed in removing the board, will the new management steer Jetson — incorporated in 1977 and listed on Bursa Malaysia since 1994 — towards change? Or will the current leadership hold firm and continue to run the company?
Last Friday, Jetson ended trading at 16 sen apiece, translating into a market capitalisation of RM66.7 million. Its shares are trading at their lowest since March 2022.
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