Tan Sri Chen Lip Keong.
PETALING JAYA: Fresh from disclosing the distribution of shares of the late Tan Sri Dr Chen Lip Keong which is held under the family trust, a surprising new development has taken place at Hong Kong-listed NagaCorp Ltd.
In a filing yesterday, the gaming group announced that Chen Cherchi, who is one of the late tycoon’s five sons, will no longer serve as chief executive officer (CEO) – finance and treasury of the company with effect from May 16, 2024.
The move is surprising considering that the late tycoon had stated in 2022 that he hoped his sons would “work together as a team to lead and manage the group to bring it to the next level of success.”
Yesterday’s filing also said that with effect from May 16, 2024, Cherchi will no longer hold any position with the company or its subsidiaries.
“As a result, following the termination of his employment, Cherchi will also cease to be a director of NagaGroup Global Ltd and NagaCap Ltd, both of which are incorporated in Cayman Islands and are wholly-owned subsidiaries of the company.
“To the best knowledge of the company, apart from possible disagreement over the termination of his employment by the board, Cherchi has no other disagreement with the board, and there is no other matter which needs to be brought to the attention of the shareholders of the company.
“The company would like to take this opportunity to express its sincere gratitude to Cherchi for his contributions to the company during his tenure,” the company said.
Nagacorp said its board of directors periodically reviews the composition of and the delegated function and work tasks to the senior management of the group, in order to streamline the internal corporate governance and management structure to efficiently and effectively continue the group’s business operations and adhere to the business strategies laid down.
In July 2022, Lip Keong undertook a leadership change at NagaCorp moving from the position of CEO to senior CEO, while three of his sons took up joint CEO positions, responsible for various aspects of the business.
Apart from Cherchi overseeing finance and treasury, Chen Yiy Fon was tasked to oversee operations, while Chen Yiy Hwuan was given the mandate for hotels.
Following Lip Keong’s demise on Dec 8 last year, Yiy Fon, who is the second son, was redesignated as CEO of the NagaCorp group.
In a May 3 filing, NagaCorp disclosed that in total 1,531,773,577 shares held under the Sakai Trust can be distributed pursuant to its terms.
Yiy Fon was entitled to around 368 million shares, which have a worth of some RM1bil and represents around 8.3% in NagaCorp.
The other four sons are entitled to around 291 million shares each, which work out to around a 6.6% stake each in the company.
The filing also stated that another 1,531,773,583 shares in NagaCorp will continue to be held in trust for which all five sons are beneficiaries.
Lip Keong had transferred his controlling stake in NagaCorp to the Sakai Trust in July 2022 for the purposes of succession planning.
In a statement then, the late tycoon said he had hoped his sons would “work together as a team to lead and manage the group to bring it to the next level of success”.
The trust controls 69.26% of NagaCorp, which operates NagaWorld – the largest casino resort in Indochina.
