KUALA LUMPUR – Former prime minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak has stated that he would not have approved the proposed merger between UEM Sunrise Bhd (UEMS) and EcoWorld Development Bhd (ECW).
Sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional Bhd is the sole shareholder of UEM Group, which in turn owns 66% of UEMS.
Pointing towards his nine-year stint as prime minister and chairman of Khazanah, Najib said in a Facebook post today that the wealth fund saw a RM81 billion increase in value of net assets.
"In the same period, subsidiaries of Khazanah UEM Sunrise recorded a profit-before-taxes worth RM391 million annually," he added.
He then said that when the Pakatan Harapan government took over, UEMS profits dropped by a staggering 90% for the second quarter of 2020.
"The weird thing now is Khazanah chose the moment when there's an ongoing pandemic along with weak performance by UEMS to merge with private entity, EcoWorld.
"I have concluded that UEMS doesn't need to merge with EcoWorld because their cash assets exceed RM900 million, and they have very low debts.
"EcoWorld however needs UEMS because they are burdened by heavy debt," Najib said. – The Vibes, October 11, 2020
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