KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 19 — The Malay Chamber of Commerce Malaysia (MCCM) is counting on Lembaga Tabung Haji not selling its 23 per cent stake in KFC Holdings Bhd (KFCH) in a last pitch to protect Bumiputera business interests from foreign acquisition.
Its president Syed Ali Alattas suggested that if the federal Muslim fund caved in and sold its stake in the money-spinning food enterprise, it would trigger a chain reaction that could potentially put many Malaysians out of a job.
“I would sincerely urge Tabung Haji not to sell, if they are looking out for the interests [of the Bumiputera community],” he said, and gave a reminder that the majority shareholder, which is ultimately Johor Corporation Bhd (JCorp), intends to take KFCH private and may sell it to outsiders.
“They are going to delist, meaning they are going to take it out and chop up the corporation.
“What’s going to happen to the franchise? What’s going to happen to all our farmers?” he asked, pointing to the many small businesses nationwide that supply produce and other raw materials to the globally-popular Malaysian-owned fried chicken shop.
He paused before saying: “They’ll all be shut up.”
JCorp holds a 53 per cent stake in plantation company Kulim, which owns 57.5 per cent of QSR; the latter has a 50.6 per cent stake in cash cow KFCH.
Syed Ali told reporters he will write to the Tabung Haji board today to update it on the Malay chamber’s plans.
He said he had previously written to Tabung Haji on January 3 offering to buy its shares for RM4.10 a share but was now retracting that offer.
“We will say: ‘Thank you very much but we cannot offer to buy anymore because Kulim has rejected our offer. So just keep it. Don’t sell,” he said.
Syed Ali said the MCCM would have formed a consortium much like the special purpose vehicle set up by JCorp and its global private equity partner, CVC Capital Partners Asia Pacific, to privatise KFCH and QSR.
Called Massive Equity, JCorp and CVC plan to buy up the rest of the shares from Kulim for an estimated RM5.24 billion, or RM4 per KFCH share and RM6.80 per QSR share.
The deal would be presented for approval at the companies’ EGM in March.
But Tabung Haji was reported to have said on January 12 that it had not been contacted by the Malay commerce chamber for help to gain control KFCH.
“The company has to evaluate and due process must be made,” Tabung Haji group chief executive Datuk Ismee Ismail said previously.
“We don’t know the details of what DPMM proposed,” he added, referring to the Malay chamber of commerce by its Malay initials.
A JCorp official has also told The Malaysian Insider it would was committed to Bumiputera interests:
“JCorp does not want to sell to outsiders. Full stop.”
