KUALA LUMPUR (March 9): NexG Bhd (KL:NEXG) announced that its executive director Datuk Chong Loong Men has stepped down, effective March 8.
Chong’s resignation, due to “personal reasons”, according to a bourse filing on Monday, comes amid a boardroom tussle.
The tug-of-war began after Raya Aviation Holdings — an air cargo company controlled by the sons of Datuk Ishak Ismail — emerged as NexG’s largest shareholder on March 4.
A day after, NexG’s executive chairman and founder Datuk Abu Hanifah Noordin, Velocity Capital Sdn Bhd — the financing arm of Velocity Capital Partner Bhd (KL:VELOCITY) and Ishak’s daughter, Siti Nur Aishah Ishak — issued a notice to propose for an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) on April 3 to remove seven directors, including Chong, and appoint eight new ones, including Ishak and his son, Raya Airways group managing director Mohamad Najib Ishak.
Aside from Chong, the seven other board members the trio sought to remove include Aswath Ramakrishnan, Kunal Tayal, Syed Farid Syed Ahmad Al-Attas, Mohamed Fairuz Mohamed Fauzy, Badrul Hisham Abdul Aziz and Mohd Zafil Ibrahim.
Chong, Aswath and Kunal joined mid-November last year, while Syed Farid Mohamed Fairuz, Badrul Hisham and Mohd Zaful joined mid-October. Datuk Ab Hamid Mohamad Hanipah and Erna Ismail were not on the removal list.
Meanwhile, the existing board has suspended Hanifah’s executive powers and announced that the company is investigating investments made in other public-listed companies (PLCs). The decision was made by the “majority” of the board, it said, noting the move is an administrative measure intended to safeguard the integrity of the review and does not constitute any determination of wrongdoing.
It had also previously expressed “great concerns” over the validity of Hanifah, Velocity Capital and Siti Nur’s notice in proposing for an EGM, and is seeking independent legal advice on the matter.
An external professional had also been appointed to verify the shareholding changes related to Raya Aviation’s emergence, it noted.
According to bourse filings, Raya Aviation acquired its 20.4% stake in NexG by taking control of two private companies — Skyelimit Alliance Sdn Bhd and Trendtrove Tradin Sdn Bhd.
Skyelimit Alliance was linked to NexG’s former executive deputy chairman Tan Sri Mohd Khairul Adib Abd Rahman, while Trendtrove was linked to Ab Hamid.
Shares in NexG ended 1.5 sen or 5.17% lower at 27.5 sen on Monday, valuing the company at RM1.02 billion.