KUALA LUMPUR (July 27): The newly appointed chief executive officer of Malaysia Building Society Bhd (MBSB), Rafe Haneef, said he has not received any official word that Datuk Wan Kamaruzaman Wan Ahmad, formerly the chief executive officer (CEO) of Retirement Fund Inc (KWAP), would be appointed chairman of the enlarged Malaysia Building Society Bhd (MBSB) and Malaysian Industrial Development Finance Bhd (MIDF) group.

“I haven't heard the rumours. I have just read it somewhere. So we have not heard anything officially,” he said.

He was telling reporters this after the group's extraordinary general meeting (EGM) on Thursday (July 27).

Rafe said the rumours must have arisen after the group first announced its plan to merge with MIDF.

“I think we will know [the appointment] in due course. Probably, in the next few weeks we should be able to get official confirmation, and then we can update,” he said.

The Edge weekly reported on July 3, quoting industry sources, that Wan Kamaruzaman is tipped to be chairman of the enlarged MBSB-MIDF. Wan Kamaruzaman declined to comment when contacted by The Edge.

Earlier, MBSB announced that it had received shareholders’ approval to buy MIDF from Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) for RM1.01 billion that will be satisfied via the issuance of 1.05 billion MBSB shares at 96.52 sen per share.

Following the proposed acquisition — which is expected to be completed in August this year — MIDF will become a wholly owned subsidiary of MBSB, and PNB will emerge as a substantial shareholder of MBSB with an equity stake of 12.78%, while the Employees Provident Fund's (EPF) shareholdings in MBSB will be reduced from 65.87% to 57.45%.

Shares in MBSB closed half a sen or 0.65% higher at 78 sen on Thursday, valuing the group at RM55.56 billion.

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