PDZ’s funding for oil and gas venture in question

PETALING JAYA: PDZ Holdings Bhd’s failed fund raising exercise begs the question of how it will acquire the necessary funding for its oil and gas diversification plan, which has been on the cards for two years now.

In a filing with the stock exchange, the marine transport firm said it had decided to withdraw the extension of time application for its proposed special issue, rights issue with warrants and issuance of redeemable convertible preference shares.

Recall that PDZ had in November 2014 entered into a framework agreement with Ken Makmur Holdings Sdn Bhd for the proposed production of liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) and condensate from the natural gas supplied by Ken Makmur from the Rakushechnoye oil and gas field in Kazakhstan.

However, the weak ringgit put pressure on the construction cost of a LPG plant in Kazakhstan, on which work was to have started in the second quarter of this year. The entry cost for the project is US$205 million (RM889.5 million).

The directors of Ken Makmur are the substantial shareholders of Sumatec Resources Bhd, in which local tycoon Tan Sri Halim Saad owns a 20.79% stake.

Meanwhile, Halim yesterday issued a statement distancing himself from PDZ managing director Aminuddin, whom PDZ’s substantial shareholder Pelaburan Mara Bhd is looking to remove from the board, after news reports which he said hinted at links between the two.

Halim said while Aminuddin has previously served in companies related to him, he had not suggested the appointment of Aminuddin as a director of PDZ.

He stressed that Aminuddin joined the board in 2013 before the emergence of Pelaburan Mara as the substantial shareholder in PDZ.