HALIM SAAD BERUNDUR ... MIRZAN KIAN MARA

Halim Saad sudah berundur sebagai M.D. time dotCom (sahaja) semalam. Beliau kecewa sambutan pasaran terhadap syarikat itu dan mengungkit tawaran Singtel satu masa dulu yang lebih tinggi tetapi diketepikan kerana bimbang pengaruh kerajaan Singapura kepada keselamatan negara.

Lain pula halnya dengan Mirzan yang kini nampaknya sedang mara. Syarikat miliknya, Konsortium Logistik Berhad menandatangani MOU untuk mengambil alih syarikat Diperdana dalam masa 3 bulan. Berdasarkan harga saham semasa sekitar RM2.16, Diperdana bernilai RM75.6 juta.

Pada tahun 1997, Konsortium menganbil alih syarikat yang tersenarai di Nasdaq, Pacific Basin Bulk Shipping pada harga US$230 juta dengan hasrat untuk menyuntiknya ke dalam Diperdana. Tetapi krisis ekonomi membatalkan rancangannya. Konsortium juga dihenyak hutang menggila akibat bunga yang menggunung tinggi dan kejatuhan teruk nilai ringgit.

Tahun 1998, Konsortium mencetus kontroversi kerana menjual semua aset perkapalannya, termasuk Pacific Basin dan dua syarikat LPG (liquefied natural gas) pada kadar US$220 juta kepada MISC (Malaysia International Shipping Corporation), unit perkapalan Petronas.

Ramai berpendapat skandal Petronas/Konsortium adalah antara punca Anwar dipecat kerana Mahathir menyalahgunakan wang Petronas untuk menyelamatkan kapal Mirzan yang sedang tenggelam pada kadar harga yang menyengketakan.

The Business Times, Singapore
23rd March 2001

Halim cites SingTel bid in rejection of market value

HALIM Saad, who quit his post as Time dotCom managing director last night, has pooh-poohed the current low market valuation of the company, saying that Singapore Telecommunications was willing to pay a lot more for a substantial stake in parent Time Engineering last year.

"The best comparison we can get is the SingTel offer. They were willing to pay RM6 a share," he told The Star in response to a question from the daily, which highlighted the market valuation of Time dotCom at between RM1 and RM2.80 per share -- substantially below its initial public offering price of RM3.30 apiece.

Last May, SingTel had reached a preliminary pact to invest an estimated RM2.4 billion (S$1.1 billion) in Time Engineering and two of its subsidiaries, Time dotCom and Time Online.

The Singapore telco said it would pay RM649.3 million, or RM6 per share, for a 14.8-per cent stake in Time Engineering. Time Engineering's main asset is wholly-owned Time dotCom, the owner of a fibre-optics network in Malaysia.

SingTel was also believed to be willing to pay RM3.30 a share for a 20-per-cent stake in Time dotCom and another RM100-odd million for 20 per cent in Time Online.

But the Malaysian political establishment vetoed the deal on fears that the entry of the Singapore government-linked company could undermine Malaysia's national security. Khazanah Nasional, the investment arm of the Malaysian government, then took up a 30-per-cent interest in Time dotCom.

Following its poorly subscribed IPO last month, three other government agencies have appeared as shareholders of Time dotCom. They are Kumpulan Wang Amanah Pencen (10.82 per cent), the Employees Provident Fund (3.22 per cent), and Pengurusan Danaharta Nasional (3.16 per cent).

http://business-times.asia1.com.sg

The Business Times, Singapore
22nd March 2001

Mirzan Mahathir eyes Diperdana once more

His Konsortium Logistik inks MOU to buy all of the listed company's business

By Eddie Toh in Kuala Lumpur

MIRZAN Mahathir, the eldest son of Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, is all set to acquire Diperdana Bhd again but on a less grandiose scale following his controversial deal with Petroliam Nasional (Petronas) in 1998.

Mr Mirzan's Konsortium Logistik Berhad yesterday signed a memorandum of understanding to acquire listed Diperdana's entire business operations.

Mr Mirzan: exclusive negotiations to realise his plans to acquire Diperdana will be concluded within three months

----

Alliance Merchant Bank Berhad said Konsortium plans to merge its transportation business with Diperdana's existing business operations -- container haulage by road and rail, forwarding, management of container depots and warehousing.

"The proposed acquisition will, therefore, result in a merger of Diperdana's existing business with that of Konsortium," Alliance said on behalf of Konsortium.

Alliance said the two parties had pledged to conclude the exclusive negotiations within three months.

The financial adviser added that a full announcement of the deal would be made upon the signing of an agreement. Mr Mirzan's latest plan to buy Diperdana's existing operations paled in comparison with his previous attempt to turn Diperdana into the shipping arm of Konsortium, in which he owns 43.4 per cent.

Based on its last traded price of RM2.16, the entire Diperdana is worth RM75.6 million (S$35.3 million).

In 1997, Konsortium acquired Nasdaq-listed and Hongkong-based Pacific Basin Bulk Shipping for US$230 million (S$408.6 million) with a view to injecting it into Diperdana. However, the regional financial crisis scuttled his plan. Konsortium was later saddled with huge debts owing to the spike in interest rates and the sharp depreciation of the Malaysian currency.

In 1998, Konsortium created a political maelstrom when it struck a deal to sell all its shipping assets, including Pacific Basin and two liquefied natural gas companies, for US$220 million to the Malaysia International Shipping Corporation, the shipping arm of Petronas.

Petronas comes under the office of the Malaysian premier. To avoid a possible conflict of interest, Dr Mahathir had then abstained from taking part in the decision-making process.

And although the transaction was based on the low end of two independent valuations, opposition politicians accused the government of cronyism and corruption. Even former deputy prime minister Anwar Ibrahim cited the Petronas/Konsortium deal as one of the reasons for his sacking in September 1998 by Dr Mahathir.