High Court orders compulsory winding up of TH Heavy Engineering

New Straits Times

5 days ago

High Court orders compulsory winding up of TH Heavy Engineering
New Straits Times
KUALA LUMPUR: The High Court has ordered TH Heavy Engineering Bhd's (THHE) liquidation to proceed under court supervision, following concerns over how the voluntary process was managed.
In a landmark decision, only the second of its kind in Malaysian legal history, the court ruled that the voluntary process failed to uphold the interests of creditors, especially independent ones holding the majority of THHE's debt.
The consensus among independent creditors—who hold 74.6% of debts—alongside support from parties like NSF Engineering and the lack of opposition, presented a strong case for court-supervised liquidation, Justice Atan Mustapha Yussof Ahmad said in a written judgment.
"The breaches of statutory provisions in the voluntary liquidation process, conflicts of interest of the interim liquidators, questionable circumstances surrounding the voluntary liquidation, and the compelling need for independent investigation all point inexorably to the conclusion that compulsory liquidation under court supervision is necessary," Atan said.
The judge outlined the basis for granting the petition by Global Mariner Offshore Services Sdn Bhd (GMOS) and two other creditors under Sections 464(1) and (2) of the Companies Act 2016, including the appointment of independent liquidators.
THHE was incorporated on Nov 18, 2003 under the Companies Act 1965, and was formerly known as Ramunia Holdings Berhad.
The company was previously a public company listed on Bursa Malaysia, involved in the business of fabrication of oil and gas structures, construction services and management services.
On April 28, 2017, THHE was classified as a PN17 affected listed issuer. Despite being granted eight extensions over a period of five years, THHE failed to submit an acceptable regularisation plan to address its PN17 status.
Consequently, on 5 May, 2022, THHE was delisted by Bursa Malaysia.
THHE's majority shareholder is Urusharta Jamaah Sdn Bhd (UJSB), a Finance Ministry-owned entity set up in 2010 to take over assets from Lembaga Tabung Haji.
The court ordered THHE be wound up by the court under Section 464(1) of the CA 2016.
It also ordered Lim Tian Huat and Chiang Teng Guan to be appointed as joint and several liquidators of THHE.