KUALA LUMPUR: Tycoon Tan Sri Halim Saad denies he was interrogated by the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) for allegedly misappropriating RM2.3 billion in the acquisition of a listed company's shares by a Malaysian conglomerate 26 years ago.
"MACC did not call me in for questioning on the issue as speculated in the media," Halim said in an exclusive interview with FMT Business.
Last Friday, various media outlets, including business weekly The Edge, reported that MACC was investigating a former senior minister and a businessman holding the title of "Tan Sri" over the alleged embezzlement of state funds worth more than RM2.3 billion.
The Edge article cited a transaction for the purchase of a 32.6 per cent stake, or 722.9 million shares, in Renong Bhd by United Engineers (M) Bhd (UEM) for RM2.3 billion in November 1997, during the Asian financial crisis.
The publication also republished three of its articles from November 1997 to "refresh the memory of readers as well as enlighten those who were not aware of this transaction".
Halim, who is now in the oil and gas industry abroad, denied any involvement in the alleged embezzlement and criticised The Edge for spreading baseless speculations and casting doubt on his role in UEM's purchase of the Renong shares.
"I challenge them to provide evidence of my wrongdoing in the transactions in question," he said.
The man who built the Renong empire
Halim played a significant role in the expansion of the Renong from the mid-1980s to the 1990s.
He spearheaded the development of the North-South Expressway (NSE), which was considered a cash cow.
A report by Rating Agency Malaysia in 2001 projected the NSE's net present value (NPV) cashflow to reach RM28 billion from 2001 to 2030.
Renong boasted a portfolio of about twelve listed companies involved in diverse sectors such as construction, tolled highways, financial services, telecommunications, and property development.
However, the company, like many other large corporations during the 1997-98 Asian financial crisis, suffered significant setbacks. High debts of over RM4 billion made it vulnerable to hostile takeovers.
During this critical period, cash-rich United Engineers (M) Bhd (UEM), one of the firms in Renong's stable, stepped in to acquire a 38 per cent stake in its parent company.
This purchase reportedly triggered a decline of over 20 per cent in the KL Composite Index, leading to accusations that Halim was using UEM to protect his and other key shareholders' interests by stabilising Renong's share price amid the stock market downturn.
No government bailout
This transaction has dogged Halim ever since, and continues to deny claims that UEM's acquisition of Renong was a "government bailout".
Halim pointed out that UEM used its own resources and banking facilities to purchase the Renong shares, which were obtained on the open market.
"UEM did not buy the 32 per cent by way of private treaty. If it were so, it would be disclosed as a related party transaction (RPT)," he said, adding that subsequent investigations by the then Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange and Securities Commission confirmed it was not an RPT.
To protect UEM shareholders and ensure that the company did not suffer any losses from the transaction, Halim, who also served as a director of UEM, granted a put option to UEM in January 1998.
This put option allowed UEM the right to sell back 32.6 per cent of Renong shares to Halim at an average purchase price of RM3.24 per share.
Finance Ministry's role
Halim said the Finance Ministry had requested UEM to acquire Renong shares in order to safeguard the company and its assets, including the NSE, from a hostile takeover by foreign entities.
He noted that at the time, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim, who is now prime minister, held the positions of finance minister and deputy prime minister.
Halim said UEM's purchase of the Renong shares was driven by the "national interest" of protecting strategic assets like the NSE from foreign control.
He denied that he benefited from the transaction, saying that UEM did not acquire shares from his own 23 per cent stake in Renong.
He said UEM shareholders overwhelmingly approved the Renong shares acquisition at an extraordinary general meeting in February 1998.
"The ultimate accountability is to shareholders, not the market. The motion was passed with over 90 per cent majority, so it is academic if non-shareholders were against the purchase.
"Everything was done according to the law," he said.
After leaving the Malaysian corporate sector more than 10 years ago, Halim has shifted his focus to his O&G business overseas.
He is now close to listing his O&G production concession holder, Caspi Oil Gas LLP, on the Nasdaq stock exchange.
Halim owns Caspi through his investment entity, Markmore Energy (Labuan) Ltd. In November, Markmore Energy entered into a merger agreement with Liberty Resources Acquisition Corp, a special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) listed on the Nasdaq.
The outcome of this merger is Liberty Onshore Energy B.V., which is anticipated to be listed on the Nasdaq later this year. The company will have ownership of the Rakushechnoye oilfield in West Kazakhstan.