Samchem’s statement points to boardroom conflict

Samchem Holdings Bhd managing director Ng Thin Poh (left) with TN Chemie Sdn Bhd managing director Ng Soh Kian and UEM Land Bhd general manager Southern Industrial and Logistics Clusters (SiLC) Johan Ramli at the opening of TN Chemie new facility at SiLC industrial estate in Nusajaya.

KUALA LUMPUR: The request by seven shareholders to remove Samchem Holdings Bhd executive director Ng Soh Kian reflects a rift at board level, based on the company’s latest disclosure to Bursa Malaysia.

In the announcement on Tuesday, the industrial chemical distributor revealed that the previously-unnamed shareholders included newly appointed group chief operating officer (COO) Eugene Chong Wee Yip and Chooi Chok Khooi, who was appointed as executive director on the same day as Ng (on Feb 27, 2009).

The other requisitionists for an EGM to remove Ng are Tan Teck Beng (a substantial shareholder with a 5.02% stake and a former Samchem executive director), Wee Chai Peng, Ng Hoi Peng, Michael Lee Fook Soon, and Lim Gim Leong.

The seven shareholders hold a combined 19.18% stake in Samchem. (The number is based on this writer’s calculation, although Samchem’s announcement on Monday cited the figure of 19.8%).

Chong’s appointment as group COO, incidentally, came on the same day that executive chairman Ng Thin Poh was named acting chief executive officer to replace Datuk Ng Lian Poh, his younger brother, who resigned on May 5 due to “personal commitments.”

(Soh Kian has no family relationship with the brothers.)

Soh Kian, 49, used to be a substantial shareholder in Samchem. However, since March, he and his wife have pared down their total 7.7% stake to just 0.41%.

The outcome of an EGM seeking to remove Soh Kian will depend much on how executive chairman Thin Poh votes, as he holds 44.14% equity interest (direct and indirect) in Samchem.

No date has been set for the EGM, but the board has agreed to convene the meeting.