LIEW was the man of the moment when he got two Prime Ministers - Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak and Britain’s David Cameron - to witness the ground-breaking ceremony for the £8bil (RM43bil) Battersea Power Station project in London in July.
It was not an easy feat, and Liew spent hours walking around the streets of London, personally checking on property prices before making the bid to take over Battersea in 2012. This was to ensure that he put in the right price for the bid.
Liew, who is the president and chief executive officer of S P Setia Bhd, also holds a 3% equity stake, according to Bloomberg.
S P Setia and Sime Darby Bhd have 40% each in the Battersea project, while the Employees Provident Fund holds the remaining 20%. It was roaring sales for the first batch of apartments, and by April 2014, Battersea will open for sale 250 units of luxury apartments that could be priced at £2,500 per sq ft.
But that is not the only thing that Liew has to mull over in 2014.
His biggest decision is whether to complete 2014 at S P Setia or opt to leave earlier. His contract at S P Setia ends in 2015.
This is a company he has been with for 17 years until 2011 when Permodalan Nasional Bhd surprised him with a takeover offer. Although it was revised later, it drove a wedge between both parties.
Many are betting on him leaving earlier than 2015.
As he steers S P Setia, his eldest son, Liew Tian Xiong, and some business associates have been grabbing the headlines with the establishment of Eco World Development Holdings Sdn Bhd.
Eco World’s takeover of Focal Aims Holdings Bhd created enough buzz for the stock price to jump to more than RM3 in December from merely 60 sen in September.
Eco World has accumulated over 1,214ha of land in Penang, Johor and the Klang Valley with a gross development value of RM30bil.
Focal Aims seems to be Liew’s private vehicle, and if he does leave S P Setia early, will he emerge in Eco World?
If he does exit S P Setia in 2014, the other question looming is: Will there be someone with his expertise, persona and experience to push Battersea ahead, although S P Setia deputy president Datuk Voon Tin Yow is slated to take over? – By B.K Sidhu
Related stories:
Datuk Abdul Farid Alias - President and CEO of Malayan Banking Bhd
Tan Sri Shamsul Azhar Abbas - President and CEO of Petroliam Nasional Bhd
Tan Sri Shahril Shamsuddin - President and group chief executive of SapuraKencana Petroleum Bhd
Mohd Emir Mavani Abdullah - Group president and CEO of Felda Global Ventures Holdings Bhd
Datuk Seri Abdul Wahid Omar - Minister in the Prime Ministers Department
Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Albukhary - Shareholder of MMC Corp and DRBHicom Bhd
Tan Sri Tony Fernandes - Founder and Group CEO of AirAsia Bhd
Tan Sri Mohd Bakke Salleh - President and CEO of Sime Darby Bhd
Tan Sri Vincent Tan Chee Yioun - Founder and controlling shareholder of Berjaya Group
Shila Dorai Raj - Chief executive officer of Malaysia Competition Commission
Morten Lundal - Chief executive officer of Maxis Bhd
Already a subscriber? Log in
Get 20% OFF The Star Digital Access
Cancel anytime. Ad-free. Unlimited access with perks.
