Shares in City Developments Limited (CDL) closed 15 cents higher, or 3.04% up, at $5.09 on March 13, a day after executive chairman Kwek Leng Beng said he would drop legal action against group CEO Sherman Kwek.
The elder Kwek announced late on March 12 that “all the board members have agreed to put aside their differences for the greater good of CDL and its stakeholders”. Leng Beng said he will continue in his role, and so will his son, along with all current board directors.
This includes Jennifer Duong Young and Su Yen Wong, two newly-appointed independent directors who the elder Kwek had alleged were involved in an “attempted coup” led by Sherman.
Leng Beng’s shock Feb 26 statement accused Sherman of circumventing CDL’s Nomination Committee (NC) chairman Chong Yoon Chou to appoint the two.
A day later, Sherman named one Dr Catherine Wu, an “unpaid independent adviser” to the board of Millennium & Copthorne (M&C) since August 2024, as a key source of the dispute.
Leng Beng then announced on March 4 that Wu had resigned from this role. Wu was a board director at M&C between June 2022 and January 2024.
See also: Generational shift at City Developments
In his latest statement, the elder Kwek sounds a reconciliatory tone: “We will all continue to focus on strengthening CDL’s business, in accordance with good corporate governance, now and in the future, including completing the raft of landmark developments underway across Singapore and globally, furthering the expansion of various brands under Millennium & Copthorne, continuing our capital recycling initiative and above all, maximising shareholder value.”
CDL’s shares were suspended from Feb 26 — the day of its results for FY2024 ended Dec 31, 2024 — to March 2. Trading resumed on March 3, opening at $4.855, 5.17% lower than its prior close price of $5.12.
Shares in CDL have slid 0.59% year to date.
See also:
- CDL directors put stop to legal action, executive chairman Kwek Leng Beng and son Sherman Kwek to retain posts (March 12)
- SIAS asks CDL to clarify Dr Catherine Wu’s role at M&C, process of board appointments, and shareholder safeguards (March 6)
- Dr Catherine Wu resigns; CDL CEO can ‘no longer’ make corp governance allegations and justify board coup: Kwek Leng Beng (March 4)
- CDL loses biggest developer spot to UOL as stock slides (March 3)
- CDL shares down more than 5% upon trading resumption (March 3)
- Urgency of court application stems from disruption of CDL’s corporate structure; Phillip Yeo sees saga as distraction (Feb 28)
- Generational shift at City Developments (Feb 27)
- Primary reason behind CDL’s dispute is related to M&C board advisor Dr Catherine Wu, says Sherman Kwek (Feb 27)
- CDL board fight cools with undertaking from two new IDs (Feb 26)
- Father and son battle it out in court for control for CDL (Feb 26)
- Sherman Kwek to remain as group CEO of CDL; finds episode 'incredibly disappointing' (Feb 26)
- CDL calls for trading halt, cancels FY2024 results briefing (Feb 26)
- City Developments' FY2024 patmi falls 36.6% as gearing rises to 117% (Feb 26)
- CDL divests assets worth more than $600 million in 2024 (Jan 16)
