Ire-Tex to propose board revamp at upcoming EGM

Ire-Tex packaging production floor at its plant in Bukit Tengah Industrial Park

KUALA LUMPUR: Ire-Tex Corp Bhd is calling for an EGM to consider removing all its directors except co-founder/deputy chairman Datuk Donald Yap Tatt Keat and Kong Hon Hay, its former group executive director who was redesignated as non-executive director in February.

The protective packaging firm told Bursa Malaysia that the EGM, to be held on April 27 in Kuala Lumpur, would also consider the appointment of Hamdan Mohd Nor and Datuk Amiruddin Jamaluddin as executive director and Raja Hizad Raja Kamarulzaman as independent non-executive director and chairman.

The loss-making company, which has seen a long series of boardroom changes, received a special notice from Singapore-based Elite Cosmo Group Ltd - the single largest shareholder with 14.29% stake - on March 2 asking for the meeting to remove some of the directors and appoint new ones. 

Three of the directors whom Elite Cosmo sought to remove - Soo Tee Wei, Lee Yow Fui, and Wong Fook Hiong - have since resigned. Their names, however, are still listed in the resolutions of the EGM notice given on Tuesday.

That leaves Chin Wui Choong, Mak Lin Kum and “any directors appointed after March 1, 2017”, who include chairman Datuk Seri Mohd Shariff Omar and director Ahmad Amryn Abd Malek, as targets for removal.

Ire-Tex’s former chairman Abdul Rahim Abdul Hamid had stepped down on Nov 23, 2016, saying he had “thought long, hard and deep and concluded that he could no longer play a role on the board of Ire-Tex Corp Bhd meaningfully.” Hence, he resigned from all Ire-Tex appointments.

However, he did not say there had been any disagreement with the board or elaborate on what led to the feeling of helplessness in carrying out his role.

In Novenber and December last year, Tey Por Chen disposed of 30.06 million shares and ceased to be Ire-Tex’s largest/substantial shareholder.

Ire-Tex announced in January the emergence of Elite Cosmo as its new substantial shareholder with a 10.47% stake. The company upped its stake further to 14.29% through a series of purchases the following month.