Johor princess new U Mobile chairperson

Johor’s Tunku Aminah Sultan Ibrahim has been appointed as the new chairperson of U Mobile, the company announced yesterday.

This is after a company the princess jointly formed with U Mobile founder Vincent Tan, Mawar Setia Sdn Bhd, completed a share purchase agreement with Singapore’s ST Telemedia.

“Her Highness brings valuable leadership and governance experience, having led private organisations across a broad range of industries and serving on the boards of several public-listed and private companies,” U Mobile said in a statement.

It added that Mawar Setia now owns more than 50 percent of the telco.

The company did not specify an exact percentage, and Companies Commission of Malaysia (CCM) records have yet to be updated to reflect Mawar Setia as a shareholder.

However, The Edge, on Dec 24, quoting a ST Telemedia spokesperson, reported that Mawar Setia would own an effective 51 percent stake in U Mobile once the share purchase agreement is concluded.

Reducing foreign ownership

Tunku Aminah was originally a 30 percent owner of Mawar Setia when the company was formed, with Tan holding a 70 percent stake.

However, a check with CCM records today showed that Mawar Setia is now fully owned by Detik Setia Sdn Bhd, which in turn is owned by a number of other companies.

Tunku Aminah is a director at both Detik Setia and Mawar Setia.

Her father, Yang di-Pertuan Agong Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar, was last reported to own a 22.8 percent stake in U Mobile. The takeover of U Mobile by Tan and Tunku Aminah followed U Mobile’s appointment as the operator of Malaysia’s second 5G network.

This was to lower foreign ownership of the telco.

Last month, it was reported that Telekom Malaysia intended to terminate its 5G wholesale access arrangement with Digital Nasional Bhd (DNB) to migrate to U Mobile’s 5G network.

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