Mara steps into UMW-Perodua saga

PETALING JAYA: Majlis Amanah Rakyat (MARA) is believed to be calling for an extraordinary shareholders meeting (EGM) of privately held Med-Bumikar Mara Sdn Bhd, the company which is the controlling shareholder of MBM Resources Sdn Bhd (MBM).

Sources said Mara, which has a 29% stake in Med-Bumikar Mara, has sent the notice to the company secretary with a view to tabling a resolution to consider the sale of the company’s 50.07% stake in MBM.

On March 26, Med-Bumikar Mara had rejected an offer from UMW Corp Bhd to buy its stake in MBM for about RM501mil. The offer had valued each MBM share at about RM2.56.

The jewel in MBM is its direct 20% stake in Perusahaan Otomobil Kedua Sdn Bhd (Perodua) and an indirect interest in the latter of 5% through Daihatsu (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd.

Although Mara is the single largest shareholder in Med-Bumikar Mara with 29%, it does not hold court on matters related to the company as the rest of the shares are held by six other family-controlled companies.

Out of the six, it is learnt that two of the families are together with Mara while four others are in favour of looking for a higher price.

The chairman of MBM, Datuk Abdul Rahim Abdul Halim, who also is a substantial shareholder in Med-Bumikar Mara, has also raised other issues with regards to the offer from UMW.

Among them is the shareholders agreement of Perodua, which states that existing shareholders have the first right of refusal of any sale of shares among existing shareholders.

The other issue raised by Rahim is that Perodua’s Japanese partner, which is the Daihatsu group, is not keen on any one single party owning a majority stake in the leading domestic automobile company.

However, Mara’s view is that a consolidation between Perodua and UMW’s own auto business, which assembles and distributes Toyota brands, is the right move considering the changing dynamics in the domestic auto industry. This includes the entry of Chinese giant Geely into national car maker Proton.