Can the GLCs reap benefits from mergers?

The private company Perspective Lane Sdn Bhd, which controls among others Tradewind Plantations and Central Sugar Refinery, has proposed to inject its assets into FGV in an exercise that would see the former being the single largest shareholder in the plantation company.

BEFORE the chatter on UEM Sunrise Bhd’s proposed takeover of Eco World Development Group Bhd can settle down, another private company, one controlled by Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al Bukhary who has his fingers in almost every segment of the economy, has proposed a corporate exercise with FGV Holdings Bhd.

It’s eyebrow-raising stuff: in a space of three weeks, two large government-linked companies (GLCs) are considering mergers with their peers in the private sector.