Is Westport boss G Gnanalingam, Maika Holdings' knight in shining armour?

miba award gnanalingam 241208 Gnanalingam ( left ) has neither denied nor confirmed that he is the mystery buyer of the controversial Maika shares, reported a Chinese daily today.

The report claimed that Prime Minister Najib Abdul Razak played a go-between role between Maika and the Westport.

If it is indeed true, 66,000 Maika shareholders can finally redeem their 125 million shares.

The shares would be sold for RM105 million.

The proposed purchase value of the shares is RM20 million above the total net value of Maika's assets, which are only worth about RM85 million currently.

It is also understood that Bank Negara has already given the green light for the sale of Maika's cash cow, Oriental Capital Assurance Berhad.

Meanwhile, Maika Holdings CEO, S Vel Paari was tight-lipped over this issue.

He however said that there would be a press conference soon relating to this matter.

Earlier this week a Maika shareholder, S Nadarajah, claimed that the buyout was a political gimmick to gain Indian votes in Hulu Selangor which was denied by Vel Paari.

Previous attempts to sell shares

In 2008, tycoon T Ananda Krishnan offered a buyout worth RM149 million via his company, Usaha Tegas Bhd.

The offer was turned down as the conditions attached were not favourable.

Another attempt to sell Maika shares to Selcron was halted by the Nesa Multipurpose Cooperative Society when the latter obtained a court injunction.

Nesa is led by MIC's former deputy president S Subramaniam.

Maika shareholders are mainly poor Indian estate workers who had invested in Maika shares in 1984. Some had pawned their jewellery while others used their life savings.

Maika was established in 1982 to enable Malaysian Indians to participate in the country's economic growth. However, the company was unable to produce the required results, much to the disillusionment of its shareholders.

The poor return on investment of Maika shares had been a nagging problem for the MIC and the Malaysian Indian community for the past 26 years.