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Berjaya, Vincent Tan No Longer Have Interest In Hyumal

KUALA LUMPUR, July 19 (Bernama) -- Berjaya Group Bhd and its chairman and chief executive officer Tan Sri Vincent Tan Chee Yioun no longer have any interest in Hyumal Motor Sdn Bhd as their shareholdings were acquired by Sime Darby Motors Sdn Bhd in June last year.

The company and Tan, and several Bumiputera parties sold their interests in Hyumal, which is involved in the distribution of Hyundai vehicles, on June 18, 2004, Berjaya said in a statement, here Tuesday.

It added that since then, Sime Darby Motors Bhd holds 51 percent interest in Hyumal with the balance of 49 percent held by Bumiputera individuals and companies.

Berjaya was clarifying media reports on Approved Permits (AP) based on the list released by the Prime Minister's Office and published in newspapers, Tuesday.

Prior to the sale, Berjaya held 20 percent equity in Hyumal and Tan had a 10 percent stake with the balance of 70 percent held by Bumiputera individuals and companies.

According to the AP list, Berjaya and Tan along with Sime Darby as the shareholders of Hyumal were allocated APs to import 8,573 Hyundai vehicles this year.

Hyumal was incorporated on Oct 16, 1990, with the principal objective of importing and distributing of certain models of Hyundai vehicles, Berjaya said.

It said Hyumal was appointed the exclusive franchise holder by Hyundai Motor Company of South Korea in 1990.

It added that Hyumal currently has a total of 85 dealers in Malaysia with 129 showrooms and last year, the company together with its dealers sold about 7,900 Hyundai vehicles.

According to Berjaya, Hyumal has always been a genuine importer and distributor of Hyundai vehicles and the APs granted to it were and are solely for importing Hyundai vehicles.

It said during the early years, Hyumal was given between 300 and 1,000 APs annually.

"Over the years as the dealership for Hyundai vehicles increased, the number of franchise APs granted to Hyumal was also increased accordingly to meet the increase in demand from the dealership network," it added. Berjaya said its link with Hyumal was that both were shareholders in Kulim-based Inokom Corporation Sdn Bhd.

It added that the company set up Inokom together with Hyumal and Hyundai Motor in 1993 to manufacture local trucks, vans and cars, principally the Inokom Atos with more than 40 percent local content.

The technical know-how is provided by Hyundai Motor, Berjaya said, adding that Inokom which now has a workforce of about 1,500 people, subsequently also ventured into the manufacture of certain Hyundai models.

Berjaya said it now holds 15 percent interest in Inokom, with Hyundai Motor also having 15 percent and Hyumal five percent.

Other shareholders of Inokom are Sime Darby with 51 percent and Pesumals (M) Sdn Bhd with 14 percent.

-- BERNAMA