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The Malaysianist

Dead on arrival

Not-so-gentle reminder of who (or what) controls Corporate Malaysia.

Apr 06, 2026
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And we have a Tuesday short. A topical one to boot.

🚀 First, Sunday’s backgrounder, in case you missed it:

When a tycoon blunders

When a tycoon blunders

Emmanuel Samarathisa
·
Apr 5
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Brainjam #13: Rafizi’s RM14 million startup crater

Brainjam #13: Rafizi’s RM14 million startup crater

Emmanuel Samarathisa
·
Jan 28
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Jeffrey Cheah failed to secure IJM.

Despite everything the Sunway founder and his sidekick Idris Jala threw at it — a media blitz, podcast rounds, even desperate night calls to retail investors — the deal officially lapsed.

Sunway needed 50% plus one share of IJM, but they only managed 33.43%.

The failure was guaranteed the moment the major government-linked investment companies (GLICs) rejected the offer: EPF (20.5%), PNB (13.5%), and KWAP (9.6%) collectively held roughly 45% to 49% of IJM.

Sunway could not bypass them and that is the end of the story, for now.

But the bid is a perfect illustration of the structural realities of Corporate Malaysia.

Three in particular:

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