Mokhzani berundur 'nama' dari dunia koporat dengan melepaskan pegangannya di dalam Pantai dan Tongkah. Hanya pembeli Pantai diketahui siapa tetapi yang memiliki Tongkah adalah Bare Trustees yang tidak diketahui siapa dibelakangnya.

Ramai analis berpendapat Mokhzani seperti terdesak menjual sahamnya di saat harga agak murah. Belia dikatakan sedang dihenyak hutang peribadi RM200 juta banyaknya.

Mokhzani adalah satu-satunya anak Mahathir yang aktif di dalam politik sambil berniaga. Daim dikatakan kurang senang dengan beliau dan beberapa anak Mahathir yang lain. Pengaruh Mokhzani dikatakan adalah sumber Daim dan Mahathir berkrisis. Daim amat geram sikap Mahathir yang berdegil untuk meletak batu asas kesinambungan kepimpinan dalam Umno serta amat kecewa dengan beberapa karenah perniagaan anak-anak Mahathir.

Hubungan Tun Daim dan Datuk Mokhzani renggang berikutan satu kes penjualan saham Bank Phileo Allied Bhd. Melalui Avenue Assets Bhs, Mokhzani memegang 18% saham bank itu yang mempunyai Rm1.2 bilion tunai dalam tangan. Beliau bercadang untuk menjualnya kepada peniaga Hong Kong yang bernama Lee Ming Tee untuk melangsaikan hutang peribadinya tetapi cadangan tersebut telah ditolak oleh pihak regulator saham yang melapurkan kepada Daim.

-Leslie Lopez-

-Terjemahan Ringkas Man Kubur-

The Asian Wall Street Journal
30th April 2001

Malaysian Prime Minister's Son Retreats From Business Interests

By LESLIE LOPEZ

Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL

KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia -- In an unusual move, one of Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad's sons declared last week he was giving up his business interests in a bid to protect the family name and to dull attacks accusing his father's administration of nepotism.

But some analysts said Mokhzani Mahathir's move may be tied to the political intrigue gripping the government after the recent decision by Daim Zainuddin, Malaysia's powerful finance minister, to take a two-month leave of absence, amid talk of a widening rift between the finance chief and Dr. Mahathir.

Analysts also said Datuk Mokhzani's decision to sell his interests in two listed concerns -- Pantai Holdings Bhd. and Tongkah Holdings Bhd. -- highlights how the nexus of business and politics in Malaysia has become a serious drag on Dr. Mahathir's efforts to shore up his waning political clout over the ruling United Malays National Organization, or UMNO, party.

Depressed Prices

"By getting out [of business] Mokhzani has done well because it removes any opportunity for attacks against his father about favoring his sons in business," says Shahrir Samad, a senior member of the UMNO Supreme Council, the party's main policy-making body.

Last Thursday, Datuk Mokhzani, who also is assistant treasurer of UMNO's youth wing, informed the stock exchange that he was selling his holdings in Pantai and Tongkah, which have interests in health care, manufacturing, financial services and real-estate development. What surprised some investment analysts and bankers was Datuk Mokhzani's exit at very depressed stock prices. These people said Datuk Mokhzani is facing pressure from his bankers to settle personal debt of around 200 million ringgit ($52.6 million).

The U.S.-trained petroleum engineer sold his 32.8% interest in Pantai for 56.9 million ringgit to little-known businessman Lim Tong Yong, who controls listed soapmaker Paos Bhd. The deal values each Pantai share at 2.80 ringgit, a steep discount to the roughly seven ringgit a share Datuk Mokhzani paid for his holdings in Pantai when he took over the company in 1996, investment analysts say.

Less certain are the terms for Datuk Mokhzani's disposal of Tongkah, a debt-heavy investment holding company. Datuk Mokhzani announced late last week that he had sold his 12.6% interest in Tongkah through Bare Trustees, a nominee concern. The identity of the buyer remains unknown.

'Step Back and Reassess'

In a brief telephone interview, Datuk Mokhzani said he was giving up his business interests because of the repeated attacks from political opponents that his rise in the corporate world has been because of his political ties. "I'm fed up with all these allegations. In this political climate, everything these companies do is construed as favoritism, and this is unfair to other shareholders of the companies."

Datuk Mokhzani couldn't be reached over the weekend to discuss whether the sale of these companies would help settle his personal debt burden.

On his plans, Datuk Mokhzani said he wanted to "take a step back and reassess" his position, adding that he was considering spending more time in politics.

Dr. Mahathir has three sons who have been in business for nearly a decade. Apart from Mokhzani, Mirzan Mahathir is involved in the transportation business, while Mukhriz Mahathir has interests in the tourism sector. Ever since a financial crisis that struck in mid-1997, scrutiny over the children's business affairs has intensified, hurting Dr. Mahathir's political prestige in the process.

One oft-cited case of alleged favoritism by the Mahathir administration is the move in mid-1998 by Petroliam Nasional Bhd., or Petronas, to acquire the shipping assets of Mr. Mirzan, who was facing financial problems at the time. While most analysts concede that the national oil corporation paid a fair price for those shipping assets, the use of a state agency to pay cash for a politically well-connected company without a competitive bidding exercise stoked allegations of a bailout.

Frayed Relations

Datuk Mokhzani is the premier's only son who is active in politics, and many UMNO officials say his clout within the party has increased significantly in recent years.

Several political analysts and businessmen close to the government say that his growing influence has been a source of irritation to Dr. Mahathir's relationship with Finance Minister Tun Daim. Many people close to the two politicians say Tun Daim has griped in recent months about Dr. Mahathir's reluctance to put a leadership succession in place. Tun Daim has also expressed frustration over the business dealings of the premier's children.

Several businessmen note that relations between Tun Daim and Datuk Mokhzani were ruffled recently over the proposed disposal of real-estate firm Avenue Assets Bhd., a listed company in the Pantai group. Avenue Assets holds 18% of Phileo Allied Bhd., a financial-services company that has a 1.2-billion-ringgit cash hoard. Datuk Mokhzani was planning to sell the company to Hong Kong businessman Lee Ming Tee. But the proposed deal, which people close to the transaction say would have covered much of Datuk Mokhzani's personal debt obligations, was thwarted owing to strict conditions imposed by Malaysia's stock-market regulators, who report to Tun Daim.

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