PKR claims that Umno cronies and Felda employees will receive more shares than settlers.
PETALING JAYA: PKR claimed today Putrajaya has earmarked more shares for rich Umno cronies than settlers in the planned controversial initial public offering (IPO) of Felda Global Ventures Holdings Sdn Bhd (FGVH).
Party investment and trade bureau chief Wong Chen said data gathered from Ministry of International Trade and Industries (MITI) showed 11.5% or 420 million shares have been allocated for “MITI approved bumiputera investors”.
Wong said these investors would likely be well-connected businessmen.
Shares allocated for settlers only stood at 2.5% or 91 million shares, almost 300 million less than those reserved for the said segment according to MITI’s investors prospectus published on its website.
It further stated that criteria for applicants under this segment is an individual investor must at least have RM3 million in assets while a company must be 100% bumiputera-owned with RM10 million in assets.
Shortchanged
“Who are these special bumiputeras that deserve 4.6 times larger allocation than all the settlers collectively? What have they ever done to help develop Felda?
“As such we demand that MITI produces a complete disclosure list of bumiputera investors and beneficial owners of this IPO,” Wong said in a press conference held at the the party’s headquarters here.
Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak said the IPO is expected to raise RM10.2 billion and will become the world’s second-largest this year and the third-largest on record for Malaysia.
Putrajaya is currently forging ahead with Felda’s controversial planned public listing despite criticism from some settlers and the opposition who claim that it will shortchange some 112,000 Felda settlers nationwide.
Najib has assured Felda settlers that the listing would yield profits, and has announced a RM1.69 billion windfall for all settlers and staff throughout the country, ahead of the FGVH listing.
Enriching the rich
But Wong said the way the shares are allocated “clearly shows that the PM is more interested in helping the rich”.
MITI’s FGHV prospectus indicated the shares reserved for Felda employees are still more than that slotted for the 112,635 settlers or 109 million shares or 3% of the total IPO.
“Why are settlers getting less shares than the 3,835 employees of Felda? Assuming a 100% take up rate, each settler will only get 810 shares whereas each employee of Felda will get 28,368 shares,” he said.
Wong said Najib must respect the spirit of Felda which is to help landless bumiputera poor and withdraw the allocation meant for rich bumiputeras.
“We also ask the employees allocation to be appropriately reduced in favour of settlers,” the PKR added.
Felda Settlers deserves to have better treatment and better payment.
ReplyDeleteHope that the spirit of Felda to help the landless Bumiputra poor will be respected.
ReplyDeletePenyenaraian Felda dalam FGVH patut memberi pulangan yang besar kepada para peneroka.
ReplyDeleteHopefully it will.
Deleteya. pasti ia akan memberi byk pulangan kepada peneroka, pasti akan lebih byk durian runtuh.
DeleteThey deserve to get that.
DeleteFelda perlu kembali kepada perjuangan asalnya. isu yang muncul sebelum ni perlu diselesaikan dengan baik.
ReplyDeleteAgree. Felda needs to rectify their image.
Deletemudah2an kerajaan betul2 buktikan yang pembangkang silap dalam hal felda.
ReplyDeleteTidak perlulah PKR mahu menghasut peneroka dengan pelbagai fitnah. Ini adalah cara PKR menjatuhkan BN dengan menipu dan sebagainya. Ini kerana peneroka Felda telah menerima durian runtuh menyebabkan PKR tidak senang duduk.
ReplyDeleteyang penting warga Felda telah menerima duit yang diberikan atas usaha dan jasa yang telah mereka lakukan kepada negara.
ReplyDeleteselepas kerajaan umumkan durian runtuh hasil dari penyenaraian FGVH ke bursa Malaysia, timbul lagi pula dakwaan kononnya shares itu hanya dinikmati kroni dan kakitangan felda.. agaknya prinsip PKR hari ini ialah, "kantoi sekali tidak semestinya kantoi selama2nya"..
ReplyDeletemacam mana pula dengan penyelewengan tender rm600 juta di kedah?? siapa yang dapat? kroni2 PKR??
ReplyDeleteMalaysian palm oil giant Felda Global is expected to buck gloomy global trends with its $US3.12 billion stock market debut on Thursday, in the world's second-largest IPO this year after Facebook.
ReplyDeleteThe volatile economic environment has forced the delay of other major offerings across Asia including a planned $US2.5 billion Formula One listing in Singapore.
ReplyDeleteBut Felda Global Ventures Holdings has already attracted a high-powered list of cornerstone investors, including the global investment arm of the Qatar Investment Authority, and analysts expect the momentum to continue.
ReplyDelete"I think it will make a strong debut," Kaladher Govindan, head of research at stockbroking firm TA Securities, told AFP.
ReplyDeleteOoi Chin Hock, a brokerage dealer with Malaysia's M & A Securities, said he expected an opening price of at least 5.20-5.50 ringgit ($A1.62-$A1.72), or a premium of up to 19 per cent from the IPO retail price of 4.45 ringgit.
ReplyDelete"It could strike an upside of up to 25 per cent," Ooi told AFP.
ReplyDeleteFelda Global estimated it had raised 9.93 billion ringgit ($A3.1 billion) from the IPO, which was heavily oversubscribed.
ReplyDeleteDespite the dark shadow that the eurozone debt crisis continues to cast over global financial markets, and the jitters sparked by Facebook's disastrous listing last month, analysts said Felda shares remained well supported.
ReplyDeleteFacebook raised $16 billion from its IPO but its shares have plummeted since its debut.
ReplyDeleteOoi said there could be some profit-taking for Felda Global, but the downside was "quite limited" due to strong demand from foreign investors who want to keep the commodity stock in their portfolio.
ReplyDeleteFelda Global, the world's third-largest palm oil plantation operator, is an arm of the Federal Land Development Authority, a government agency that provides land to the rural poor.
ReplyDeletePrime Minister Najib Razak announced the listing plan in October as part of a wider push to divest state-run firms and increase foreign investment in the Southeast Asian country.
ReplyDeleteNajib, who must call general election by next April, also hopes to curry favour with the more than 112,000 settler families who own part of the plantation land and stand to gain 15,000 ringgit ($A4,687) each.
ReplyDeleteSome settlers have opposed the listing due to concerns that the scheme may expose them to more risk and potentially rob them of their land.
ReplyDeleteBut analysts say the scheme will help Malaysia's $27 billion palm oil sector - the world's second largest - compete more efficiently with top producer Indonesia.
ReplyDeleteFelda Global currently sells palm fruit or crude palm oil and processed palm oil to third parties.
ReplyDeleteFunds raised from the listing will be used to replant mature oil palms and further expand into downstream businesses to create a more self-contained global player.
ReplyDeletePalm oil is a key ingredient in soap and a range of food products whose consumption is predicted to soar in coming decades.
ReplyDeleteFelda Global also produces rubber, cocoa and other agricultural products.
ReplyDelete"We are very excited as this listing represents a historical milestone for the Felda Group and signals the start of our transformation program to take us into the next 50 years," said Felda Global President Sabri Ahmad.
ReplyDelete"At the same time, it also means that the Felda Group is poised to play a bigger role in nation-building," he said on Monday.
ReplyDelete"Where before the government had helped Felda settlers to enhance their economic wellbeing, now it is Felda's turn, through business expansion, to give back to the country and help uplift the lives of other Malaysians, which also include the second and third generations of Felda settlers."
ReplyDelete