KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 22): Agricultural systems maker Greenyield Bhd (KL:GREENYB) has appointed Tham Kin Shun as its new acting managing director, replacing current acting group chief executive officer (CEO) Lalith Shamshir Shams, whose contract lapsed on Monday after prolonged boardroom dispute within the Tham family.
The outgoing acting group CEO was appointed on Sept 23, at the height of a family power struggle for control of Greenyield, which operates in plantation inputs, rubber estates and household goods.
The new acting MD Kin Shun is the son of Tham Foo Choon. Foo Choon was part of a group of shareholders that voted to remove his brother Tham Foo Keong, the then non-executive chairman and Foo Keong’s son, then CEO Tham Kin-On, from their leadership positions in the company.
The dispute began on Sept 8, when a group of seven shareholders, including Foo Keong’s brothers — Foo Choon, Tham Fau Sin and Tham Chong Sing — moved to remove Kin-On from all his positions within Greenyield and its subsidiaries.
At the time, the group claimed to collectively hold a 51.1% stake in the company and proposed the immediate appointment of Tham Kin Wai, Tham Kinyiq and Chong Sin Hao as directors. Kin Wai is Chong Sing’s son.
Kin-On subsequently stepped down on Sept 19, citing personal reasons. He had been a board member since December 2016 and was redesignated as group CEO in February this year.
The situation escalated further on Sept 30, when shareholders aligned with Chong Sing attempted to convene another extraordinary general meeting (EGM), this time to remove Foo Keong and three independent directors.
The group, comprising Chong Sing, Chew Kee Foo, Foong Sai Cheong and DKIC Capital Sdn Bhd, collectively held more than 10% of Greenyield’s shares.
While the three independent directors — Saryani Che Ab Rahman, Supramaniam R Ramasamy and Mohd Ghozali Yahaya — resigned on Oct 1, the shareholder group subsequently issued another EGM notice to remove Foo Keong himself.
On Nov 12, shareholders voted to remove Foo Keong as non-executive chairman at an EGM, with 73.26% of votes in favour and 26.74% against. The meeting also approved the appointment of seven new directors, namely Voon Sze Lin, Tham Kinyiq, Kin Wai, Chong Sin Hao, Syakur Mohd Suhaimi, Kamarudin Md Derom and Lee Kim Hong.
Foo Keong is Greenyield’s single largest shareholder with a 17.31% stake, followed by Chong Sing (13.06%) and Tham Foo Choon (12.99%).
Founded in 1937 by the Tham family, Greenyield develops, manufactures and markets agricultural systems, products and services based on agro-technology. For the six-month period ended June 30, 2025, the group reported a net loss of RM1.4 million on slightly higher revenue of RM16.6 million.
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