Meng Xiong, 45, will take over from the current group managing director, Lim Soon Huat, from Sept. 1, according to the group’s filing with Bursa Malaysia on Wednesday.
Lim, 61, will relinquish the role and take up a position as adviser to the board, the filings said.
Meng Xiong currently serves as an alternate director at Kuok (Singapore) and managing director of Kuok Brothers.
Kuok Brothers is the privately held investment vehicle of his grandfather that holds a controlling stake in PPB Group, according to PPB’s annual report released in late March.
“The appointment is part of the board’s succession planning, and the board is confident that Datuk Kuok (Meng Xiong) will build on the company’s strong foundations and lead the group into its next chapter of growth and development,” PPB said in a statement cited by The Edge Malaysia.
Kuok Meng Xiong, non-independent and non-executive director of PPB Group. Photo from the company’s website |
The firm also said in a separate filing that Jeremy Goon will join the board as a non-independent non-executive director, effective June 4. Goon is a director and CEO of FFM, an 80%-owned subsidiary of PPB. He is also a cousin of Meng Xiong.
Meng Xiong, a member of the Kuok family’s third generation, holds a bachelor’s degree in hotel administration from Cornell University in the U.S., according to The Business Times.
He began his career at Shangri-La Hotels, the luxury chain founded by his grandfather, where he spent about a decade helping drive the company’s expansion in Europe, West Asia and Sri Lanka.
He also founded Singapore-based venture capital firm K3 Ventures, which has backed more than 50 startups, including TikTok’s parent ByteDance and ride-hailing and food delivery platform Grab.
He was appointed a non-independent and non-executive director to the board of PPB in early March.
Shangri-La and PPB Group are both parts of the business empire built by Robert Kuok, who has ranked as Malaysia’s richest man for decades, according to Forbeswhich estimated his net worth at US$13.3 billion as of June 4.
Shangri-La operates more than 100 hotels and resorts globally while PPB has interests across a range of sectors, including grains and agribusiness, consumer products, property, film exhibition and distribution, waste management and information technology.
Robert’s business interests also span logistics, real estate, shipping and shipbuilding.
PPB shares closed 0.91% lower at RM9.80 on Wednesday, valuing the company at RM13.94 billion (US$3.47 billion).
Comments are closed.