Thaindian News

Kuala Lumpur, May 13 (IANS) The Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC) Thursday declined to comment on a bid, by a firm headed by an ethnic Indian, to take over its multi-million investment arm that has been in financial trouble.
“No comment. It is the company’s decision,” MIC president S. Samy Vellu told media when asked about the bid by businessman G. Gnanalingan to take over Maika Holdings Bhd, that is one of the larger business entities owned by ethnic Indians.

Gnanlingan’s firm G. Team launched a RM 100 million ($31.3 million) takeover bid Wednesday through a special purpose vehicle along with CIMB group in a bid to bale out the troubled organisation.

Gnanalingan and CIMB chief executive officer Nazir Razak told media the aim was for Maika’s 66,000 long-suffering shareholders, mostly Indian estate workers in rural areas, to get back their investments in the company, the New Straits Times said Thursday.

G Team Resources & Holding Bhd, a special purpose company set up by Gnanalingan and S. Kunasingam, served the takeover notice on Maika’s board of directors Wednesday.

Maika was set up in 1982 to enable Malaysian Indians to participate in the country’s economic growth. But it failed to provide any returns to its shareholders and became a sore issue among the Indian community.

The G Team offer is based on Maika shareholders’ original investment of RM 100 million and 25 million bonus shares received in 1996.

“G Team does not intend to gain any financial benefits from the exercise. It’s our intention to close the chapter (on Maika). There’s no political or government involvement in this exercise,” Gnanalingan and Nazir Razak said.

Gnanalingan said he was confident of securing more than the 50 percent of Maika’s voting shares, failing which the offer would lapse.

MIC is a major partner of the Barisan Nasional, the ruling coalition, and has ministers in the federal government.

Malaysia is home to 1.7 million ethnic Indians, most of them Tamils, who settled here during the British era.