Kumpulan Europlus to get new CEO soon

PETALING JAYA (Jan 6, 2014): Kumpulan Europlus Bhd (KEuro) expects its largest shareholder IJM Corporation Bhd to appoint its new group managing director and CEO, which has been vacant since April 2012, this month.
"KEuro is looking for a CEO. I believe they (the major shareholders) already have somebody in mind, while now is just the matter of sending the name to our board to get approval," its executive director Loy Boon Chen told pressmen here last Friday after the group's EGM.
Builder IJM Corp, he said, being the largest shareholder, will appoint the new managing director and CEO for KEuro, as the construction conglomerate already has experience in tolls concession business.
Today, IJM Corp fully owns and operates Sungai Besi Highway, New Pantai Expressway and Kajang-Seremban Highway.
"They will put their people in, but they have not submitted any (candidate's) name to our nomination committee yet. I was told that it is likely to happen this month," said Loy.
Besides, the group is expecting new directors to come on board following the exit of Chan as a substantial shareholder, he added.
Chan, who retired as CEO and president of KEuro in 2012 after nine years at the helm, had sold his majority stake to Thai tycoon Tan Sri Surin Upatkoon last year. It is understood that Chan however, remains as a minority shareholder of KEuro.
Currently, IJM Corp owns 25.10% stake in KEuro, while Surin Upatkoon has via the locally-listed MWE Holdings Bhd, a 24.68% stake.
The second largest shareholder of KEuro, Surin Upatkoon is also expected to appoint at least one director to the group.
"These two parties (IJM Corp and MWE) will decide the future of the company. There will be new people coming in to steer the ship. I don't know how many (directors) they want to put in, but definitely there will be some changes in boardroom," he said.
Loy added that KEuro is also looking for a new CFO to replace Lourdes Puspham Dass, who has just resigned on Dec 31, 2013.
Meanwhile, Loy said that money will be raised and construction works are about to start on the RM5.94 billion West Coast Expressway (WCE) highway project linking Banting, Selangor, to Taiping, Perak.
West Coast Expressway Sdn Bhd CEO Datuk Neoh Soon Hiong (pix) said physical work is to start in the beginning of the second quarter of this year.
He said the government was in the midst of forming the tender committee, and tenders for the WCE would be called in two to three months.
Neoh said the actual construction cost for the highway project is RM5.04 billion which will be divided into 11 work packages.
"We expect the first five packages to be awarded out in April and May, involving three packages in Selangor and two packages in Perak. We will try to complete the whole Selangor part and the two packages in Perak within three years, so that the people can travel from Banting to Sitiawan," he said.
The remaining six work packages will be awarded in the third quarter or fourth quarter this year.
KEuro has an 80% stake in West Coast Expressway Sdn Bhd, the toll concessionaire for WCE, while the remaining 20% is held by IJM Corp.
Earlier, at the meeting, shareholders gave KEuro the go-ahead to dispose its 10% stake in Radiant Pillar Sdn Bhd to IJM Properties Sdn Bhd for RM52.5 million in cash. Shareholders also agreed for KEuro to raise RM464 million by issuing right shares and free warrants.
The financing of WCE will be divided into three parts: RM2.5 billion of debt financing, RM2.24 billion of government support loan, as well as RM1.2 billion of equity and cash call.