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The move, the second such restructuring in a matter of months, resulted in some family members exiting the ownership structure, and this has raised eyebrows.
A series of filings with Bursa Malaysia on Tuesday revealed that Soaring Success Sdn Bhd, a company linked to the Loh family, has emerged as the largest shareholder in the company.
A total of 227.91 million shares – a 36.74% stake in Oriental – were transferred from Pacific Carnival Sdn Bhd to Soaring Success as part of the “internal restructuring”.
The move is puzzling as a similar exercise was undertaken in March when the Penang-based members of the Loh family put their shares under Pacific Carnival, a new holding company which replaced Boon Siew Sdn Bhd as Oriental’s single largest shareholder.
Soaring Success is owned by Loh Kar Bee Holdings Sdn Bhd, which is controlled by Boon Siew’s eldest son Loh Kar Bee.
The filings reveal that Kar Bee’s son Loh Kian Chong, along with Loh Oon Ling and Loh Wei-Lyn, are substantial shareholders through Soaring Success.
Kian Chong is Oriental’s executive chairman while Wei-Lyn is the daughter of Boon Siew’s late son Loh Kah Kheng and his widow Shirley Kathreyn Yap.
Loh Phoy Yen Holdings Sdn Bhd and Loh Gim Ean Holdings Sdn Bhd, which are the private vehicles of Boon Siew’s daughters Loh Phoy Yen and Loh Gim Ean, ceased to have deemed interest in the company following the capital distribution by Pacific Carnival.
Also ceasing to have deemed interest are Oriental joint managing director Lim Su Tong, executive director Tan Hui Jing, Lim Kean Seng, Lim Ee Hean, Lim Ee Ling and Tan Hui Ming.
Su Tong is Phoy Yen’s husband while Kean Seng, Ee Hean and Ee Ling are their children. Hui Jing and Hui Ming are Gim Ean’s sons.
The filings gave no reason for the latest round of internal restructuring.
Rags to riches
Oriental was founded in 1963 by Boon Siew, who earned the moniker “Mr Honda” for his role in bringing Honda motorcycles to Malaysia in the late 1950s.
Boon Siew was born in 1915 in Fujian, China. At the age of 12, he arrived in Penang where he began working as an apprentice car mechanic soon after.
After World War II, he started selling bicycles, tyres and motorcycle accessories, and expanded his business to used cars, transports and buses. In the 1950s, he ventured into property development with some friends from China.
The pivotal moment which transformed his life came in 1957 when Boon Siew met Soichiro Honda, the founder of Honda Motor Co, for the very first time.
He managed to convince the latter to allow him to distribute Honda motorcycles in Malaysia. The first 50 Honda motorcycles arrived in Penang in 1958, and the rest, as they say, is history.
Boon Siew established Malaysia’s first motorcycle assembly plant in Butterworth in 1969, churning out Honda motorcycles.
Back in the day, when someone mentioned Honda, they were not referring to Honda cars but the ubiquitous Honda Cub 4-stroke motorcycle, the first mode of transport for generations of Malaysians.
Oriental, which was listed on the then Stock Exchange of Malaysia in 1964, later diversified into oil palm plantations in Malaysia and Indonesia, acquired hotels and resorts in Australia and New Zealand, and expanded into property development.
The company that Boon Siew founded now has combined assets of RM11.7 billion with total equity attributable to company stockholders of RM7.6 billion. Its cash and cash equivalents touched RM5 billion as of Dec 31, 2023, according to the company’s website.
Devastated by tragedy
In the later years of his life, Boon Siew was devastated by the untimely death of his second son Kah Kheng in 1987.
Groomed to be the successor of his business empire, Kah Kheng, then 39 and managing director of Oriental, was found dead under mysterious circumstances at his Tanjung Bungah seaside villa.
The baton was passed to Boon Siew’s second daughter Loh Cheng Yean, who became a director in 1987 and chairman in 1995, just after Boon Siew’s passing.
Tragedy struck again for the Loh family when Boon Siew’s youngest daughter Gim Ean passed away in 1996 from cancer while Kah Kheng’s son Loh Yu Jen fell to his death from a condominium in Penang in 1999.
Oriental is effectively being run by the family’s third generation with Kian Chong, 48, at the helm. He took over as executive chairman from his aunt Cheng Yean in 2015. Cheng Yean’s daughter Tan Kheng Hwee is an executive director along with her cousin Hui Jing.
For the first quarter ended March 31, 2024, the group’s net profit surged 239% to RM319.48 million from RM94.24 million a year earlier while revenue increased to RM1.19 billion from RM964.41 million.
Oriental’s shares closed 1 sen higher yesterday, valuing the group at RM4.28 billion.
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