KUALA LUMPUR: UEM Sunrise Bhd has announced the resignation of its managing director and chief executive officer Anwar Syahrin Abdul Ajib.
In an exchange filing today, UEM Sunrise's board of director said Anwar has given notice of his resignation on October 9, 2020, to pursue other opportunities.
"The board will deliberate on the effective date of resignation of Anwar Syahrin. In the meantime, a transition plan will be executed for smooth handover of his responsibilities to ensure continued management of the company's business and operations," it added.
UEM Sunrise said it will make the necessary announcement on the date of resignation in due course.
Anwar Syahrin's sudden resignation was tendered amid the potential merger between UEM Sunrise and Eco World Development Group Bhd.
UEM Group Bhd had on Monday proposed to take over Eco World and merge it with subsidiary UEM Sunrise in a share swap deal estimated by Citi Research at RM2.6 billion.
This would be undertaken via the issuance of 3.1 billion new UEM Sunrise shares and 556 million new UEM Sunrise warrants (exercise price: RM1.96), with an exchange ratio of 1.0587.
Market observers said the potential merger would be fair for both parties in terms of valuation, expertise in marketing and branding.
They believed UEM Sunrise could leverage on Eco World's marketing prowess to monetise its landbank faster.
Eco World, on the other hand, could leverage on UEM Sunrise's balance sheet for more financial resources, they said.
Eco World has gearing of 0.64 times compared to UEM Sunrise's 0.48 times.