KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 21): The Kuala Lumpur High Court has ordered Kian Joo Can Factory Bhd (KJCF), Kian Joo Packaging Sdn Bhd and KJ Can (Selangor) Sdn Bhd to pay RM8.82 million in retirement gratuity, contractual bonus and arrears of salary, to KJCF former executive director (ED) See Teow Koon until June 14, 2019 when he attains the age of 70.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia today, KJCF said the High Court also ordered Kian Joo and parties to pay an interest of 5% per year on the total sum of RM8.82 million effective today until full payment is made, as well as costs of RM519,074.82 with interest at 5% per year from today till full payment.

However, all the other claims made by See, namely for the reinstatement as ED of KJCF, annual special incentive, year-end allowance, statutory contributions by Kian Joo and parties to his Employees Provident Fund (EPF) account in respect of arrears in salary, contractual bonus and annual special incentive were not granted.

The High Court also did not grant See his claim for loss of contractual benefits including a Mercedes Benz S300 with a full-time paid personal driver plus reimbursements of all medical expenses incurred by him and his spouse.

KJCF said it has instructed its solicitors to file an appeal in the Court of Appeal against the High Court's decision.

See had filed the suit on Aug 13, 2014, in which he claimed his removal as ED of KJCF was unlawful, null and void. He had failed to get re-elected to the board during the company's annual general meeting (AGM) in April, 2014.

A year later his brother, Datuk Anthony See Teow Guan, was also not re-elected to the board of KJCF, a company founded by their father over 40 years ago, after its April 2015 AGM.

Both brothers were reported to be unhappy about Aspire Insight Sdn Bhd's RM1.47 billion offer for Kian Joo, which Anthony had claimed was deemed a related party transaction because of the connections between KJCF managing director Yeoh Jin Hoe and KJCF chief operating officer (COO) Chee Khay Leong and Can-One Bhd, as well as Chee's connection to Aspire.

Aspire is a joint venture between the EPF and Chee. Yeoh is a controlling shareholder of Can-One, while Chee is Can-One's former COO — a position from which he resigned a few days before the offer was made by Aspire.

KJCF shares closed up by one sen, or 0.32%, at RM3.18 today, bringing a market capitalisation of RM1.41 billion.

(Note: The Edge Research's fundamental score reflects a company's profitability and balance sheet strength, calculated based on historical numbers. The valuation score determines if a stock is attractively valued or not, also based on historical numbers. A score of 3 suggests strong fundamentals and attractive valuations.)