SINGAPORE: City Developments Limited (CDL) executive chairman Kwek Leng Beng on Wednesday (Mar 12) dropped the lawsuit against his son and group CEO Sherman over alleged governance lapses and what he had described as an attempted power grab at the board level.
Court papers were filed on Feb 25 to address what he described as an attempted "coup" by the younger Kwekand to restore corporate integrity.
In a statement, the elder Kwek said: "I have decided that the legal action that was launched in regard to the Board resolutions taken since Feb 7, 2025 will be discontinued.
"I will continue in my role as executive chairman, and Sherman Kwek will continue as group Chief Executive Officer. All the current directors, including Jennifer Duong Young and Su Yen Wong, will remain on the CDL board."
The senior Kwek added that all the board members had agreed to "put aside their differences" for the "greater good" of CDL and its stakeholders.
"We will all continue to focus on strengthening CDL’s business, in accordance with good corporate governance, now and in the future, including completing the raft of landmark developments underway across Singapore and globally, furthering the expansion of various brands under (group subsidiary) Millennium & Copthorne, continuing our capital recycling initiative and above all, maximising shareholder value," he said.
CDL, which is controlled by the Kwek family, is one of Singapore's largest property companies.
The family feud erupted on Feb 26 when Mr Kwek Leng Beng moved to dismiss his son, Sherman, as group CEO, filing a lawsuit over alleged governance lapses and an attempted boardroom power grab.
He pointed out the financial losses suffered by the company under his son's leadership, including what he described as “poor investment decisions” in the UK property market that resulted in significant financial losses as well as a S$1.9 billion loss from CDL's investment in Chinese developer Sincere Property in 2020.
Mr Sherman Kwek, who has been group CEO since 2018, later issued a statement, calling his father's actions "extreme" and said his legal action was not authorised by the majority of the board.
He singled out his father's former personal assistant, Dr Catherine Wu, as the source of the dispute within CDL. According to him, Dr Wu had been "interfering in matters going well beyond her scope", and "wields and exercises enormous influence".
He reiterated that there had been "no attempt by us to oust the chairman".
On Mar 4, Mr Kwek Leng Beng said that Dr Wu had resigned from her position as an unpaid independent adviser to the board of Millennium & Copthorne Hotels, a CDL subsidiary.
In his statement then, he said that his son had "sought to justify his board coup and overt breaches of corporate governance with unproven insinuations about Dr Wu".
"Now that Dr Wu has resigned, the CEO and his team of directors no longer have any continuing basis to make such corporate governance allegations about CDL and to justify his board coup," he added.
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Court papers were filed on Feb 25 to address what he described as an attempted "coup" by the younger Kwekand to restore corporate integrity.
In a statement, the elder Kwek said: "I have decided that the legal action that was launched in regard to the Board resolutions taken since Feb 7, 2025 will be discontinued.
"I will continue in my role as executive chairman, and Sherman Kwek will continue as group Chief Executive Officer. All the current directors, including Jennifer Duong Young and Su Yen Wong, will remain on the CDL board."
The senior Kwek added that all the board members had agreed to "put aside their differences" for the "greater good" of CDL and its stakeholders.
"We will all continue to focus on strengthening CDL’s business, in accordance with good corporate governance, now and in the future, including completing the raft of landmark developments underway across Singapore and globally, furthering the expansion of various brands under (group subsidiary) Millennium & Copthorne, continuing our capital recycling initiative and above all, maximising shareholder value," he said.
BOARDROOM BATTLE SHAKES FAMILY EMPIRE
CDL, which is controlled by the Kwek family, is one of Singapore's largest property companies.
The family feud erupted on Feb 26 when Mr Kwek Leng Beng moved to dismiss his son, Sherman, as group CEO, filing a lawsuit over alleged governance lapses and an attempted boardroom power grab.
He pointed out the financial losses suffered by the company under his son's leadership, including what he described as “poor investment decisions” in the UK property market that resulted in significant financial losses as well as a S$1.9 billion loss from CDL's investment in Chinese developer Sincere Property in 2020.
Mr Sherman Kwek, who has been group CEO since 2018, later issued a statement, calling his father's actions "extreme" and said his legal action was not authorised by the majority of the board.
He singled out his father's former personal assistant, Dr Catherine Wu, as the source of the dispute within CDL. According to him, Dr Wu had been "interfering in matters going well beyond her scope", and "wields and exercises enormous influence".
He reiterated that there had been "no attempt by us to oust the chairman".
On Mar 4, Mr Kwek Leng Beng said that Dr Wu had resigned from her position as an unpaid independent adviser to the board of Millennium & Copthorne Hotels, a CDL subsidiary.
In his statement then, he said that his son had "sought to justify his board coup and overt breaches of corporate governance with unproven insinuations about Dr Wu".
"Now that Dr Wu has resigned, the CEO and his team of directors no longer have any continuing basis to make such corporate governance allegations about CDL and to justify his board coup," he added.
Continue reading...