BT Investment Capital Limited has added new information brought to their attention following the suit which was filed at the Shah Alam High Court with regards to land purchase for RM15.9million. The purchase intention is being highly contested by minority shareholders of ILB Group.
To recap, BT Investment Capital has sued ILB Group Berhad for oppression following ILB’s announcement to fully fund an RM15.9 million proposed acquisition of nine parcels of commercial land with shop lots via issuance of 37,780,000 new ordinary shares which will dilute existing shareholders’ shareholding.
The new information has revealed that ILB’s executive director and chief executive officer Tee Tuan Sem and the seller Impian Nuri Sdn Bhd’s major shareholders and directors Tan Chek Siong (51%) and Tan Chek Een (19%) are actually extended family related through marriage.
It is discovered that the son of Tee Tuan Sem, Tee Jia Jie, married Tan Chek Ying, the younger sister of Tan Chek Siong and Tan Chek Een in September 2021. This means Tee Tuan Sem is the father-in-law of Tan Chek Siong and Tan Chek Een’s sister.
Tan Chek Siong and Tan Chek Een became major shareholders and directors of Impian Nuri on 27 June 2022, just three days before ILB announced on Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad on 30 June 2022 its proposed acquisition from Impian Nuri.
According to BT Investment, the new information contradicts paragraph 9 of ILB’s 30 June 2022 announcement which declared “None of the Directors and/or major shareholders, chief executive of the Company and/or persons connected to them have any interest, direct or indirect, in the Proposed Acquisition.”
In essence, the combined shareholding of Tee Tuan Sem and his extended family member Tan Chek Siong via Impian Nuri after the proposed transaction will also form the single largest shareholding block in ILB at 31.27%.
BT Investment added “The Board has a statutory and fiduciary duty to act in the best interest of the company and has a duty to act in the best interest of shareholders. The actions of ILB’s Board are not only detrimental to the company, it is denying existing shareholders the right to query the Board and assess whether the powers of the Board are being exercised for a proper purpose. Even more irresponsibly, the Board is trying to use the court to stop shareholders from discussing a matter of grave consequences,”.
