PARAGON Globe Bhd, which announced yesterday that it entered into a conditional sales and purchase agreement with Iskandar Capital Sdn Bhd to purchase two plots of freehold land in Pulai, Johor, for RM60.9 mil, has some big name shareholders.
Iskandar Capital’s shareholders are Khazanah Nasional Bhd-linked Iskandar Investment Bhd (55.46%), Employees Provident Fund (29.26%) and Khazanah Nasional (15.28%). In a bourse filing on Dec 5, Paragon said that it intended to convert both agricultural plots, spanning 12.5ha (31.1 acres), into a commercial area.
Checks on Bloomberg show that while Paragon may only be a mid-size listed group with a market capitalisation of RM183 mil, its shareholders comprise prominent and controversial names in business.
The group’s largest shareholder with a 51% stake is Paragon Adventure Sdn Bhd. The company’s owners are Datuk Seri Edwin Tan Pei Seng and Datuk Seri Godwin Tan Pei Poh. Edwin and Godwin serve as managing director and executive director of the Paragon Globe group.
The Tan brothers’ father is real estate tycoon Datuk Tan Eng Boon of the Joland Group. Eng Boon is infamously known for pleading guilty on Sept 17 to an abetment charge involving former Federal Territories minister Datuk Seri Tengku Adnan Tengku Mansor.
Eng Boon admitted depositing a Public Bank cheque of RM1 mil belonging to Pekan Nenas Industries Sdn Bhd into Tengku Adnan’s CIMB Bank account, knowing full well that the transaction was associated with the latter’s office as Federal Territories minister at the time.
The abetment charge was an alternative plea deal proposed by the prosecution. Initially, Eng Boon was charged with bribing Tengku Adnan under Section 16(b)(A) of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission Act 2009. Eng Boon escaped jail time but paid a RM1.5 mil fine.
The second largest shareholder in Paragon Globe is Tan Sri Robert Tan Hua Choon, also known as the Casio King for being the first and only distributor of Casio watches in the country, with a 9.82% stake.
Robert owns a plethora of businesses. Initially, he was the major shareholder of Paragon Globe, then Goh Ban Huat Holdings Bhd. In Oct 2017, he sold 51% of his stake to Paragon Adventure, triggering a mandatory general offer.
Talk has it that Robert is a business associate of Tun Daim Zainuddin. Robert’s sister Puan Sri Cindy Tan Kewi Yoon is married to Tan Sri Desmond Lim Siew Choon who controls property group Malton Bhd and Pavilion Real Estate Investment Trust.
