KUALA LUMPUR – Tan Sri Vincent Tan will be resigning as Berjaya Corp Bhd (BCorp) executive chairman effectively immediately, but will remain on the board as non-executive chairman.
In a bourse filing today, BCorp said this was in line with Tan’s vision to “transform the BCorp group into an institutionalised corporation, managed by professionals.”
Newly minted group chief executive Abdul Jalil Abdul Rasheed, the group added, has been mandated to transform the group into a high-performing organisation through streamlining the various group businesses to create and enhance shareholder value, optimising financial and human resources, improving synergies and efficiency as well as enhancing corporate governance and transparency.
Jalil was appointed to the board on March 16.
Tan said with Jalil on board as the group chief, handling the strategic and operational decision-making and planning the future business direction of the group, together with executive deputy chairman Datuk Sri Robin Tan Yeong Ching, he is confident that BCorp is in capable hands and will be able to move forward progressively towards greater heights.
“It is also important to give Jalil space and freedom to run Berjaya [Corp] in his own style. I can now take a step back from active day-to-day involvement in the group’s businesses and devote more of my time and energy to promote charitable initiatives and other interests. I have been blessed with my fortune and am thankful for the many opportunities Malaysia has given me. Now it’s time to give back.”
Tan added that he is particularly passionate about building affordably priced homes for Malaysians as housing is a basic need and essential for a person’s sense of dignity, safety and inclusion.
“In the last two years, the Better Malaysia Foundation assembled a ‘brain trust’ of like-minded professionals to help formulate innovative solutions to address the affordability gap faced by low-income Malaysian households.
“We are launching a new social enterprise programme with one national goal, which is to assist our government’s efforts in solving homeownership needs of low-income Malaysians through innovative and sustainable solutions.
“Our government has always been passionate about providing affordable homes for low-income Malaysians. We believe that the new social enterprise programme will be able to complement the government’s affordable housing agenda,” he said.
Jalil, who will be taking his first three months to do a strategic review of the group, said he is currently working with Robin and the board to kick-start the transformative process and bring Tan’s future vision for the group to fruition.
“BCorp is a very diversified group and I am meeting my new colleagues in the various businesses to identify core and non-core assets, and clustering the group into consumer verticals, in line with our vision to become a diversified consumer group.
“We will engage with the public and investment community when we are ready to unveil our strategic plan.”
Meanwhile, Robin said his father had been mentioning his recent desire to take a step back and to let professionals manage the running of the group.
“By relinquishing his executive role, he will now have more time to pursue his many other passions.
“The BCorp group has evolved much over the years and so has the management. Once the group’s transformation process and plan have stabilised, in accordance with Vincent Tan’s vision of independent professional management, I also plan to step into a non-executive role on the board. This will then also allow me to pursue my own personal passions.”
At the noon break today, BCorp settled two sen higher at 47 sen, valuing the group at RM2.3 billion. The group, among the most actively traded stocks, saw 104.5 million shares change hands.
The counter had risen 161% from 18 sen on March 16, when it appointed Jalil as the group chief. – The Vibes, April 5, 2021
