KUALA LUMPUR: The Federal Land Development Authority (FELDA) has managed to control an 81 per cent stake in FGV Holdings Bhd and its affiliates, including Koperasi Permodalan Felda Malaysia Bhd (KPF).

This is following the mandatory offer period on the remaining unowned shares which expired Monday.

In a statement today, FELDA said 987.3 million or 27.1 per cent shares were received following the mandatory general offer, while 125.6 million (3.4 per cent) shares were purchased from the open market.

This means that FELDA and KPF now control 81 per cent of FGV shares, the Pahang government owns five per cent, and the Sabah government and its premier investment arm, Sawit Kinabalu, own four per cent of FGV shares, it said.

FELDA chairman Datuk Seri Idris Jusoh said as a subsidiary, this would enable the management of FGV’s land lease agreement (LLA) estates together with oil palm mills, to be integrated with other FELDA estates, rendering them more efficient and effective for mutual benefit.

“I believe that the cooperation between FELDA and FGV will form a synergy that will bring benefits to both organisations.

“Moving forward, it is important that we hold on to the principle of we are one,” he said.

FELDA director-general Datuk Amiruddin Abdul Satar said the cooperation between FELDA and FGV is expected to provide added value to FELDA, especially by focusing more on downstream activities that had been given less attention before.

“Downstream activities will provide higher profit margins and will be able to strengthen FELDA’s financial position more sustainably,” he said.

The acquisition of FGV is viewed as an important step in the government-approved FELDA Rehabilitation Plan for the benefit of 112,638 settlers and two million FELDA senior citizens.

Meanwhile, FGV in a filing with Bursa Malaysia said the public shareholding spread of the company stood at 14.01 per cent as of March 15 and it continued to be deemed not in compliance with the public shareholding spread requirement in accordance with Paragraph 8.02(1) of the Listing Requirements.

The company noted that it has today submitted an application to Bursa Malaysia for an extension of time to rectify the shortfall and to allow sufficient time for FELDA to formulate a firm plan on FGV’s listing status.

-- BERNAMA