Sherman, the son of Singapore’s 4th richest man Leng Beng, is making an “attempt to distract everyone from the matter at hand” by blaming his father’s adviser, Catherine Wu, as the source of the family feud which has unfold in the last four weeks, director Philip Yeo said, as reported by The Straits Times.
Sherman, 49, on Thursday issued a statement saying that he and the majority of directors never wanted to oust Leng Beng from the company, even though the chairman had filed a lawsuit against them for an “attempted coup” to take over City Developments Limited, the biggest property developer in Singapore.
The CEO highlighted Wu as someone who has been interfering in matters beyond her scope, which troubled him and the majority of directors.
Director Yeo, however, considered his statement a distraction.
He wants Sherman and other directors to find solutions to recover SGD1.9 billion in loss, which stemmed from the company’s biggest investment in China spearheaded by Sherman in 2019.
Leng Beng has earlier publicly blamed his son for the loss, as well as other losses from investments in the U.K.
Yeo said: “Sherman seems more concerned about grievances, mobilising a group of independent directors to remove an adviser to the City Developments Limited hospitality business, which has actually seen profit improvements for the past few years since Covid-19.”
The CEO should work with the whole board to make money for all shareholders, he added.
Leng Beng has said that Sherman and his group’s decision to add two new directors to the board, without going through approved procedures, threatens to strip away the authority of him as the chairman.
The 84-year-old has achieved an initial success in the legal battle after the two new directors and Sherman’s group have committed to not taking further actions until a court ruling is issued.
The legal teams of both parties are scheduled to appear for another private High Court hearing on March 4th.
Leng Beng and his family share a combined net worth of US$11.5 billion, making him the fourth richest billionaire in Singapore, according to a ranking list by Forbes last September.
CDL, among Singapore’s largest property developers, has a market capitalization of SGD4.6 billion (US$3.4 billion) and properties in nearly 30 countries.
