KUALA LUMPUR: Sime Darby Group has announced a leadership change for each of its three pure plays — Sime Darby Plantation Bhd, Sime Darby Property Bhd and leaner and more focused Sime Darby Bhd itself.
Sime Darby Plantation and Sime Darby Property were on course for initial public offerings (IPOs) at the end of this year, said the group in a statement yesterday.
Analysts believe the management changes are aimed at gaining investors’ confidence ahead of the listings.
The changes will see current Sime Darby group chief executive officer and president Tan Sri Mohd Bakke Salleh being redesignated executive deputy-chairman and managing director (MD) of Sime Darby Plantation.
Tan Sri Abdul Ghani Othman will be Sime Darby Plantation chairman and Tan Sri Wan Abdul Aziz Wan Abdullah will replace Abdul Ghani as Sime Darby chairman.
Sime Darby will be led by president and group chief executive Jeffri Salim Davidson with Datuk Lawrence Lee Cheow Hock leading Sime Darby Motors, Scott William Cameron Sime Darby Industrial, and Timothy Lee Chi Tim Sime Darby Logistics.
At Sime Darby Property, outgoing Media Prima Bhd group MD Datuk Seri Amrin Awaluddin will lead the company as its new MD.
Permodalan Nasional Bhd group chairman Tan Sri Abdul Wahid Omar is the new Sime Darby Property chairman.
“We are confident that all three pure plays have the right leadership to take the companies forward in these challenging times. Their task is to grow the businesses and their challenge is to achieve this while delivering consistent returns to all their stakeholders,” said Abdul Ghani.
It is learnt that the appointments are effective at different points in time as Sime Darby Plantation and Sime Darby Property approach their listings.
Nazarry Rosli of Malaysian Association of Technical Analysts said the new leadership line-up would help gain more investors’ confidence ahead of the listings.
“These personalities command their own strength and have a good track record. It is a good and very welcome move to have new leaderships with long experiences in their own right to steer the companies to new heights.
“I believe they will be able to deliver good results and make these companies more profitable in the future,” he told NST Business.
Sime Darby shares eased 0.42 per cent, or four sen, yesterday to close at RM9.50, with 11.73 million units changing hands.