Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News
Malaysia Today - Your Source of Independent News |
- Malaysian gold strike
- Sacked DAP man eyes Pandamaran
- Lajim’s defection is not Umno’s loss
- DAP urged to act against Karpal on anti-hudud views
- Anwar invite irks Sultan
- DAP chief seeks end to feud with PKR
- Najib hints at November polls
| Posted: 02 Sep 2012 09:13 PM PDT  Nik Ibrahim is LionGold executive chairman and group CEO. A Malaysian-backed, SGX-listed gold miner hits RM2.5bil market cap KUALA LUMPUR: Recently, an article in the Sydney Morning Herald highlighted the maverick moves of a US-based fund manager, Andres Weiss, of making a killing by merely following the aggressive acquisitions of gold mining companies by one Singapore Exchange (SGX) listed company called LionGold Corp Ltd. Since last October, Weiss Asset Management has bought into LionGold takeover targets Signature Metals Ltd and Castlemaine Gold Ltd, both listed on the Australian stock exchange (ASX) in classic arbitrage plays, the paper reported. (Arbitrage plays refer to situations where investors take positions in target companies in takeovers, betting that the announced deal will come to fruition, thereby gaining from the small premium of the takeover price versus the market price.) What made that article even more interesting is that LionGold was described as a Malaysian-backed company. Checks with LionGold revealed that its executive chairman and group CEO is Tan Sri Nik Ibrahim Kamil, who is famed for his tenure at the helm of KFC Holdings Bhd for a period of around two years from 2006 and also as the former managing director of the NSTP group.  Golden opportunity: An aerial view of Castlemaine's Ballarat gold mine, one of LionGold's acquired assets. The other Malaysian element of LionGold is that its single largest shareholder, with a 10% stake, is SGX-listed Asiasons Capital Group Ltd, a private equity fund founded by Malaysians Datuk Jared Lim, Datuk Mohammed Azlan Hashim and chartered accountant Ng Teck Wah back in 2007. LionGold's growth story is an impressive one. It now boasts a market capitalisation of around S$1bil (RM2.5bil) and is touted by some as being among the fastest growing gold mining companies in the world. It has also attracted the likes of Nomura Holdings Inc, Macquarie Bank Ltd and the Market Vectors Junior Gold Miners Exchange Trade Fund (ETF) to emerge as substantial shareholders. (The ETF belongs to New York-based asset manager Van Eck Global which had launched the ETF in 2009 aimed at giving investors there exposure to small and mid-cap gold mining companies.) Through its aggressive M&A strategy, LionGold now has control over three producing gold mines and a few more mines that are close to the production stage. In an interview with StarBiz, Nik Ibrahim said that LionGold "is touching production figures of nearly 6,000 ounces (of gold) per month, and growing." He added: "We control directly or indirectly nearly 15 million ounces of JORC compliant gold resources." (JORC is the established code for the reporting of exploration results, prepared by the Joint Ore Reserves Committee or JORC of Australia.) LionGold's modus operandi, it seems, it to take advantage of cash-strapped, small and mid-sized listed gold miners, that are trading at a fraction of their true value, in markets such as ASX. "We saw this aberration in the market. While the price of gold was high, the equity prices of a number of gold mining companies were falling," he said, adding that LionGold then did a close study of such companies, many of which had spent millions in exploration and drilling and which already had proven JORC compliant resources and reserves. But due to the fall out from the Lehman's crisis and the subsequent bearish markets in the Western world, these companies ended up cash-strapped as investors shunned them and ended up trading at a fraction of their net worth. Asiasons' Lim added: "We positioned LionGold in a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Asiasons steered LionGold into an "aggregator" and "accelerator" model and leveraged on our corporate finance expertise to identify undervalued mines, with significant potential, to acquire. We have financial strength to provide the necessary capital to the mines, an attractive and liquid platform to be able to attract shareholders to swap shares with LionGold and the operational acumen to be able to accelerate the production of the acquired mines." LionGold's modus operandi in many of its recent M&As has been to acquire a placement of new shares from the target company, thereby ensuring a fresh injection of capital into these companies. After being satisfied with the value of these companies, LionGold would then proceed to make an offer to buy out the rest of the shareholders in the target company, paying them mostly in LionGold shares.  Lim: 'We positioned LionGold in a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity". "Our pitch was that we are a "consolidater" of junior miners and we have a plant to inject capital, new management and technologies into the target companies. Just as important, is the fact that the SGX-listed LionGold is highly liquid stock and its share price has been appreciating. The ASX-listed targets though, were just the opposite. So the appeal to investors (of target companies) is immense," said Nik Ibrahim. This model had been used to acquire 76% in Signature Metals (which in turn owns a 70% interest in the Konogo Gold project in Ghana) and 98% of Castlemaine (that owns the state-of-the-art Ballarat Mine in Central Victoria, Australia). LionGold has also taken a 10% stake in ASX-listed Citigold Corp, that has 11 million ounces of JORC compliant gold resources and its mine in Queensland, Australia, is touted as Australia's "highest grade gold field". Through other M&As involving ASX-listed entities, LionGold has secured control over gold mines in Tasmania and Bolivia and recently started the process to acquire 60% of the Papua New Guinea operations of another ASX-listed gold miner. No wonder then that LionGold has been getting more media attention in Australia than Malaysia or even Singapore. The Aussies and fund managers like Weiss are likely to be watching LionGold even closer now. Nik Ibrahim said LionGold was still in its acquisitive phase. "But the time will come soon when LionGold's M&As will slow down in order to focus on rationalising the assets we've already consumed," he said.
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| Sacked DAP man eyes Pandamaran Posted: 02 Sep 2012 08:56 PM PDT Tee Boon Hock says Ronnie Liu has failed his constituents. Athi Shankar, FMT KLANG: Sacked DAP grassroots leader Tee Boon Hock plans to contest in Pandamaran as an independent candidate if the party fields incumbent Ronnie Liu Tian Khiew for that state constituency. He referred to the Selangor executive councillor as an "opportunist" and "tainted candidate" who had failed to deliver anything worthwhile to his constituents since he was elected in 2008. If the DAP were to nominate such a person as its candidate for Pandamaran, he told FMT, "it will ignite my morale and determination" to contest for the seat. He alleged that Liu had been unable to uphold DAP's socialist ideals. Tee, who joined DAP in 1984, was sacked in July 2010 for allegedly misusing Liu's official letterhead to secure contracts for his cronies, an accusation he rejects. He also lost his seat in the Klang Municipal Council. He sought election in Pandamaran in 1999 and 2004 and lost on both occasions. He made way for Liu in the 2008 election. They were then close friends. "Since I was the one who proposed him for Pandamaran, I admit and take full responsibility for the mistake," he said. "I sincerely apologise to the people of Pandamaran for his shortcomings and failures." Tee said he hoped that the DAP leadership would, for the coming polls, field candidates with "credibility, high integrity, dignity and honesty" and who were team players able to work closely with grassroots leaders to serve the public. He said elected representatives must be familiar with issues affecting their constituents and have the ability to solve problems at the grassroots. "A representative should work with, by and for his voters." He said DAP leaders had deviated from the party's principles and that its CAT (competency, accountability and transparency) governance had become an empty boast. He accused them of having distanced themselves from the public and working only for their own materialistic gains. He described the running of the Selangor government as a "comedy of errors" and said the Shah Alam administration was infested with abuse of power, graft, cronyism and nepotism. "The CAT has become a sham and a gimmick and DAP has lost its credibility," he said.
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| Lajim’s defection is not Umno’s loss Posted: 02 Sep 2012 03:25 PM PDT A scandal allegedly involving former Umno leader Lajim Ukin was the reason why Umno was happy to see the Sabah politician defect to Pakatan Rakyat. (FMT) - The real reason why Sabah veteran politician Lajim Ukin resigned from all his posts in Umno and threw his support behind Anwar Ibrahim's Pakatan Rakyat was because of a scandal that is about to explode, popular blogger Raja Petra Kamarudin said today. He said that Lajim had realised that he had no future in Umno and that he would not be selected as a Barisan Nasional candidate for the coming general election. "Lajim is carrying too much baggage. And this baggage is going to be revealed immediately after nomination day of GE13," Raja Petra said in his Malaysia-Today portal today. Raja Petra added that Sabah Chief Minister Musa Aman knew about the scandal and that Lajim was to be dropped as a candidate in the coming general election as a result of the scandal. "Realising that his future is no longer bright, Lajim woke up one morning and decided to join the opposition to fight for reforms." Islamic college project The scandal, according to Raja Petra, allegedly involved Lajim promising his financial backer – named only as Mr W – a RM50 million contract to build an Islamic college in Beaufort in 2007. Raja Petra said Lajim wanted Mr W – a Bruneian who had migrated to Sabah – to pay his commission upfront, supposedly as election funds for the 12th general election. "Over the last five years since 2007, Mr W has paid Lajim a total of RM8 million. However, Mr W never got the project. "What Mr W received instead was 55 undated cheques totalling RM3 million. But all these cheques are worthless and Mr W is hopping mad and now realises he is not going to get the project, nor his money back," said Raja Petra, who also posted photographs of the cheques in his blog. Raja Petra also claimed that the so-called RM50 million Islamic college does not exist, calling it a scam. He added that Mr W, who had been Lajim's financial backer for a long time, no longer wants to fund Lajim and wants his money back. "If he does not get it, he is going to go public on this. And because of that Umno can no longer retain Lajim in the coming general election. "And because of that, also, Lajim has suddenly woken up and is joining the opposition to fight for reforms – justice, transparency, accountability, good governance, an end to corruption and abuse of power, and all that shit," said Raja Petra. Pakatan will get whacked Raja Petra warned that tainted candidates like Lajim would result in Pakatan "getting whacked in East Malaysia". He said that Anwar was making a mistake in hoping that the road to Putrajaya would become clearer with politicians like Lajim with him. "Having Lajim and those of his ilk as your partners will only ensure that Barisan Nasional will remain in power. "I know you [Anwar] want to become prime minister. But this type of thing is only going to make your dream become our nightmare. "As the Malays would say: why would we want to reject 'penyamum' and vote for 'lanun'? We said we want change, meaning change for the better, not change for the worse," he added. Raja Petra also revealed that Lajim was asking too much from Anwar – apart from cash, he also allegedly wanted to become one of the three deputy prime ministers if/when Pakatan marches into Putrajaya. And if he can't become one of the three deputy prime ministers, then he wants at least the post of Sabah chief minister, said Raja Petra. "But Lajim can't be made the chief minister of Sabah – and certainly not one of the three deputy prime ministers. And this is not because those posts have been promised to others, although that is one reason, but because he is carrying too much baggage," said Raja Petra.
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| DAP urged to act against Karpal on anti-hudud views Posted: 02 Sep 2012 02:17 PM PDT
(The Star) - Several PAS leaders want DAP to take action against its chairman Karpal Singh for fanning sentiments against hudud law as propagated by PAS. However, they dare not say it openly for fear of repercussions as they are obligated to maintain a good rapport with their Pakatan Rakyat partners. "Sooner or later, this matter is bound to explode because no action is taken against DAP leaders who made the statements that are detrimental to Pakatan," said a PAS leader. The leaders were responding to mounting pressure from certain quarters to take stern action against former PAS deputy president Nasharudin Mat Isa for suggesting that PAS should review its position in Pakatan in view of Karpal's strong objection against hudud. Another PAS leader noted that while pressure was mounting against Nasharudin for merely airing his view, DAP had remained silent over Karpal's statements which had hurt PAS. "And it is even sadder that the parasites' within PAS are working against the party's interests," said another leader. Meanwhile, the party's deputy spiritual leader Datuk Dr Harun Din (picture) cautioned members against the munafikul (hypocrite) faction who could weaken the party from within. He added that the existence of such destructive pressure group would not come as a surprise as their influence had been felt over the years in the course of the party's struggle. "Such groups may exist, or may not exist now. But if they do exist, it is not something peculiar as even during the era of Prophet Muhammad, the munafikul faction had attacked from within to weaken Islam," he said. Dr Harun also said the party's Syura council would decide on Sept 9 if action should be taken against Nasharudin. "I do not know the exact words used by Nasharudin. But urging PAS to review its position in Pakatan does not mean asking PAS to withdraw from the coalition. "Reviewing one's position could also mean looking at the benefits and shortcomings and rectifying problems," said Dr Harun.
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| Posted: 02 Sep 2012 02:10 PM PDT
(The Star) - SULTAN Sharafuddin Idris Shah has questioned why the Selangor Government chose to make Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim the state's guest of honour at its 55th Merdeka celebration. The Sultan found it strange that he, as Ruler of the state, was not given the honour that was accorded to Anwar when the Opposition Leader was not even among the ranks of the state leadership, reported Sinar Harian. The paper, quoting the Sultan's private secretary Datuk Mohamad Munir Bani, said Anwar also did not hold any official portfolio other than being a state-appointed economic adviser. "Usually, if Tuanku cannot attend a formal state function, the Mentri Besar acts on his behalf to speak and carry out related official duties. "So, why was Anwar invited to attend and speak when this is an official state event and not a political function?" he asked regarding the celebration at Dataran Kemerdekaan in Shah Alam on Thursday. Mohamad Munir said the Ruler was not informed of the event and only received an invitation to grace a tahlil and Yassin recital programme at the Sultan Salahuddin Abdul Aziz Shah Mosque on Friday. Asked to comment on the matter at a function at Galeri Shah Alam on Saturday, Mentri Besar Tan Sri Khalid Ibrahim passed the buck to state secretary Datuk Mohamed Khursrin Munawi. "The state secretariat has always been in charge of the National Day celebrations, while the Mentri Besar's office only has a representative in the organising committee," he said. Khalid said he would clarify the situation with the Sultan during his weekly audience with the Ruler on Wednesday.
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| DAP chief seeks end to feud with PKR Posted: 02 Sep 2012 01:56 PM PDT
(The Star) - KUANTAN: Pahang DAP chief Leong Ngah Ngah has told his members to stop quarrelling with PKR over the issue of seat allocation for the general election. "It is better to put a stop to this squabble over seat allocation," he said when asked to comment on the continuing feud between the two parties regarding the issue. Leong, who is Triang assemblyman, said he had ordered state party leaders to stop issuing any more comments on the matter. On Tuesday, Pahang PKR chairman Datuk Fauzi Abdul Rahman ticked off the state DAP by saying that it had to "exercise discipline" in requesting for seats to contest. Fauzi said that although it was not wrong for DAP to ask for additional seats, it should be done through the proper channels and with mutual consent. He was responding to reports that DAP intended to contest in several more seats in Pahang claiming to have a better chance of winning these than its allies. In the 42-seat Pahang state assembly, PKR currently does not have any seat while DAP and PAS have two each. The rest are held by Barisan Nasional. Leong said the parties in the state Pakatan Rakyat were still on good terms with each other and would sit down to discuss the issue. "Actually, it is not wrong for us to request for more seats as PKR and PAS also do the same," he said, adding that the coalition's central leadership should meet on the matter and all should abide by any decision made. State DAP secretary and Tras assemblyman Choong Siew Onn downplayed the issue, saying that seat allocation was not Pakatan's main agenda. "What is important is to go to the ground, work hard and serve the people," he said. However, state DAP vice-chairman J. Apalasamy continued to taunt PKR, saying its representatives were more prone to defection. "PKR leaders should show more respect to DAP, the senior partner in Pakatan," he said. Apalasamy reportedly told a news portal that it was the DAP which had allocated seats to PKR in the last general election, adding that Fauzi should remember which was the more senior party of the two. "As such, he should learn to show some respect," he said, claiming that DAP had allowed PKR de facto leader Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim to be the Opposition Leader despite PKR having fewer seats in Parliament.
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| Posted: 02 Sep 2012 09:20 AM PDT
(The Star) - SANDAKAN: Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak has strengthened speculation that the next general election will be held in November. With the Prime Minister scheduled to unveil the National Education Blueprint on Sept 11 and Budget 2013 on Sept 28, talk in political circles is that the general election will likely be held in the second last month of the year. The Barisan Nasional chairman's "one-on-one" meetings with component party heads on Aug 28 to discuss their candidates' list have also given credence to talk that the polls will be held then. In his strongest hint yet, the Umno president brought his favourite number 11 into prominence during the joint opening of the party's Kinabatangan, Sandakan, Batu Sapi, Beluran and Libaran delegates meeting here. He said the double digits were "significant" this year because 2012 is the 66th year of Umno, with Malaysia marking the 55th year of Merdeka and Sabah Umno notching 22 years. "All these numbers could be multiplied by 11," he said. "Six times 11 equals 66, five times 11 equals 55 and 2 times 11 equals 22. The factor of 11 appears in all. It is unique and good." Earlier in his speech, Najib urged members of the state Umno and Barisan Nasional to defend Sabah as a "fixed deposit" of the coalition. He said Umno's strength in Sabah was good and believed the party would get "a resounding support" of the people in the state. Najib urged Umno members to work for the party and not look at ethnicity of candidates as this would divide and weaken the party. "We don't need selfish members who only want to fill their pockets and protect their positions. Such people can leave. "Najib is not strong, Chief Minister Datuk Seri Musa Aman is not strong. Our strength is in Umno and Barisan Nasional," he pointed out. The Prime Minister asked Sabah voters to give Barisan another five years' mandate so that the coalition could carry out its projects in the state under the Government Transformation Programme. He said ties between the Federal Government and Sabah were good, adding that the state benefited much under Barisan.
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