“At this moment, we cannot get into the specifics of the probe as it is a subject for PDRM (police). However, as a reputable and responsible organisation, the KNM board under the leadership of (chairman) Tunku Yaacob Khyra will assist the police in the said inquiry.
“While it is true the police have sought the assistance of KNM Group in an investigation, there was never a police raid as claimed in an online media report,” KNM said in a statement today.
The oil and gas services provider said: “Bukit Aman has rubbished these claims, and this was confirmed by commercial crime investigation department director Ramli Yoosuf.”
This concurs with Ramli’s statement yesterday denying the police had raided KNM’s offices as claimed by various reports circulating on WhatsApp.
“We went there (on Wednesday) only to collect documents for our investigation. No one was arrested,” Ramli told FMT. However, he did not give details of the investigation being carried out.
The company was recently embroiled in a boardroom battle. A group of shareholders led by Johor princess Tunku Kamariah Aminah Maimunah Iskandariah Sultan Iskandar and German billionaire Andreas Heeschen failed to unseat the current board members at an extraordinary general meeting on Oct 16.
The financially distressed company was classified as a Practice Note 17 (PN17) company on Oct 31 last year and required to submit its regularisation plan to regulators within a year. On Oct 30, it sought a one-year extension from Bursa Malaysia Securities.
Monetising KNM’s assets
In its statement today, KNM said it is working with its investment bankers on a regularisation plan.
“It is important we have the monetisation plans at an advanced stage at the point of submission and with reasonable certainty for Bursa Securities to be able to assess it properly,” it said.
KNM stressed it will continue its efforts to monetise its assets earmarked for the paring down of the group’s debts.
“We have an ambitious timeline despite the disruptions from the hostile takeover EGM which had delayed and reversed earlier efforts up to that point. To overcome these delays, we are moving with even greater urgency.
“The pre-IPO efforts for Borsig have had greater traction and we are in the midst of negotiating prices with potential subscribers for the subscription of the shares,” it added.
KNM’s prized asset Borsig, a German machinery and equipment company, is on track for an initial public offering (IPO) by the second half of 2024 on the Singapore Exchange (SGX).
The group is seeking to raise some RM900 million from the IPO proceeds to pare down the company’s debt of some RM1.1 billion, while holding a stake of 40% after the flotation.
Italian blow
KNM also admitted the disposal of its subsidiary FBM Hudson Group had been “badly impacted by the golden power rejection by the Italian government”.
“We understand the reasons for the government’s action. However, the more acute liquidity situation within FBM Hudson at present means there are mainly one euro offers from potential buyers,” it said.
It added the KNM management is “working hard to salvage an offer that is somewhat better than one euro for FBM Hudson”.
According to its bourse filing on Nov 10, the Italian government had rejected the proposed disposal by KNM’s wholly-owned subsidiary KNM Europa BV of its entire stake in FBM Hudson for 22 million euros (RM112 million).
It said the buyer, United Arab Emirates-based Petro MAT FZCO, had failed to obtain the golden power clearance from the Italian government.
KNM is also still seeking to monetise its cassava-to-ethanol plant in Thailand, and its waste-to-energy project in the UK, but acknowledged it is a challenge.
“The current state of the world economy and the high interest rates do not help the monetisation efforts. Nevertheless, the management remains positive and continues to push ahead with its efforts,” it added.
KNM’s shares ended half-a-sen or 5.3% lower at 9 sen, giving the group a market capitalisation of RM345.9 million.