Jeffrey Cheah urges GLICs to evaluate Sunway's IJM bid objectively

KUALA LUMPUR (April 2): Tan Sri Jeffrey Cheah Fook Ling (pictured), the founder and 59.4% shareholder of Sunway Bhd (KL:SUNWAY), is urging shareholders of IJM Corp Bhd (KL:IJM), particularly government-linked investment funds (GLICs), to evaluate Sunway's takeover bid objectively, and not be influenced by the “noises” made by certain quarters.

The major GLICs, namely the Employees Provident Fund (EPF), Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB), Kumpulan Wang Persaraan (Diperbadankan) or KWAP, hold roughly 45% in IJM.

If all of them do not accept the offer, it will be tough for Sunway to succeed.

In an interview with The Edge, Cheah said he would be disappointed if all of the GLICs reject the offer because of race-based attacks against the deal on social media by certain groups.

Cheah said the feedback from GLICs was positive immediately after Sunway announced the RM3.15 offer for each IJM share on Jan 12, 2026.

But things changed after bloggers on social media attacked the deal on racial grounds several days later, followed by news on Jan 18 that the MACC was investigating IJM over alleged governance issue. 

"I thought I had gotten the support [of the institutional shareholders]. Each of them said the offer made commercial sense [when] we met them so I was confident,” Cheah said.

Thus far, PNB which has a 13.3% stake in IJM, has come out officially to say it will reject the offer. The others have yet to publicly state their position, but sources say they are likely to follow PNB.

IJM shareholders have until Monday, April 6 to decide.

When asked whether Sunway would raise its offer from RM3.15 or increase the cash portion  from 10%, Cheah said it would be difficult.

"If you change, there's no end, and also my credibility, as I already said it very clearly. This is the best offer. If they [IJM shareholders] don't accept, I [will] walk away. That's what it is now,” he said.

If 100% acceptance is unlikely, Cheah is still hopeful of getting 50% plus one share as this would still give Sunway effective control of IJM. Under the conditional offer, if Sunway does not get at least 50% plus one share, the entire offer will be withdrawn.

He, therefore, hopes that the remaining shareholders of IJM — which include retail and institutional investors like insurance companies, will grab the chance to be part of a larger and successful entity.

Cheah said over the past 10 years from 2016 to 2025 Sunway’s shareholders return was 387% while IJM’s was -9%. He highlighted that Sunway’s profit before tax construction margins were at 12% in contrast to IJM’s 4%, and for property development IJM lagged at 21% to Sunway’s 27%.     

Cheah, who succeeded in turning a tin mine into a township with complete facilities, believes that Sunway would be able to enhance IJM’s operations in many aspects, including profit margin and bottomline.

Sunway’s bid to take IJM private in a cash plus shares deal has gotten much flak as it is perceived to be the takeover of a company controlling strategic national assets such as Kuantan Port and several highways including West Coast Expressway and New Pantai Expressway, by a non-Bumiputera controlled entity.

Those who attacked the deal referred to IJM as a Bumiputera company, although it is not.

Other GLICs which have shares in IJM include Minister of Finance Inc-owned Urusharta Jamaah Sdn Bhd with 2.84% and Pilgrims’ Fund Board (Lembaga Tabung Haji) with 1.47%.

Cheah stressed that the cash plus share offer would enable existing shareholders to stay on with the enlarged Sunway after the privatisation so that they would benefit from the future growth.

“I told them [the GLICs] that our proposal [to take over IJM] is for them to stay on because the objective is not to push the institutional shareholders away,” said Cheah.

According to executives of Sunway, the company has thus far received about 20% acceptance from IJM shareholders, but they expect the take up to reach 25% very soon.

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