Persitma ... Oct09

Rin Kei Mei, has come back, albeit indirectly, to Perusahaan Sadur Timah Malaysia Bhd (Perstima), a company he co-founded in the late 1970s.

His son Rin Nan Yoong emerged as a substantial shareholder in Perstima after acquiring a 50% interest in Versalite Sdn Bhd, a private company which is the single largest shareholder in Perstima with 32.85%, from Tan Sri Abdul Rahman Omar and Muzafar Mohamed.

The other 49.99% in Versalite is owned by deputy chairman Hiroshi Kume, who is said to be the operations person responsible for the day-to-day management of the company which has a monopoly on the production of tin plates in Malaysia.

The elder Rin was one of the early founders of Perstima, along with Kumpulan Fima. However, both Rin and Kumpulan Fima sold out their interests in 1993 and Perstima eventually came under the control of Datuk Soh Chee Wen and later on Tan Sri Amin Shah Omar Shah of PSC Industries Bhd.

The company went under during the 1998 Asian financial crisis and it is said that Rin came back into the picture indirectly to rescue it.

In 2000, Versalite emerged as a substantial shareholder in Perstima by taking up a restricted share issue of 41 million shares that amounted to 79.47% of the company. The injection of new funds via Versalite taking up the restricted offer was the beginning of the revival of Perstima.

The shareholders of Versalite then were Tan Sri Jamil Mohd Jan and Hiroshi Kume with a 51.01% and 49.99% stake respectively.

Kume sat on the board of Perstima from 1980 to 1985 and was subsequently reappointed in September 1991 until August 1996. He was made the managing director of Perstima from 1998 until 2007, when he was redesignated as executive deputy chairman. Together with Abdul Rahman, the duo are said to be responsible for the revival of Perstima. Abdul Rahman is the former managing director of Perusahaan Otomobobil Kedua Malaysia (Perodua).

Abdul Rahman came into Perstima in December 2000 when he acquired Jamil’s entire interest in Versalite. A few months later, Abdul Rahman, who is said to be close to former prime minister Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad, divested 18% of his Versalite equity interest to Muzafar Mohamed.

Versalite took up its portion of a rights issue in Perstima as well as the portion that was undersubscribed, bringing its shareholding in Perstima to 58.54%. It later divested a shareholding of some 7.9% to Kawasho Corp, a manufacturer of iron and steel products, which had earlier taken up a 5.61% stake in Perstima through the rights issue.

At the end of 2002, it sold down another 12.7% to Kawasaki Steel Corporation, leaving it with 37.91% in Perstima. Versalite continued to pare down its shareholding in Perstima over the years through private placement and direct deals.

Rin Nan Yoong emerged on the board of Perstima in early 2004 as an independent non-executive director.