The Malaysian nightmare on Nine Elms
Battersea's whistleblower exposes a crisis for Malaysian owners.
We’re still in holiday mode, so why not peek into the goings-on at the favourite kampung of many Malaysians: London.
While writing this, I am always reminded of a joke but an equally apt remark by a friend that amusingly London is a major flex for the two ethnic groups that should have the biggest bone to pick against the British — the Malays and the Indians.
Stockholm syndrome? Tragicomedy? I’m dan lain-lain (“others” or a kid of mixed parentage) and have never set foot in London, so I wouldn’t know.
First, some “corporate mafia” coverage 👇🏾
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Last week, The Financial Times (FT) reported that Donagh O’Sullivan, the former chief executive of Battersea Power Station Development Company, has filed an employment tribunal claim.
He alleged that he was ousted in retaliation for blowing the whistle on financial misreporting at the holding company (BPS) that gave a “false picture to investors and the public”.
O’Sullivan — who joined the company in 2024 after spending more than 20 years at London property developer Galliard Homes — claimed he discovered that internal accounts valued undeveloped plots of the iconic riverside site at hundreds of millions of pounds more than independent estimates by Jones Lang LaSalle and Knight Frank.
The ousted CEO alleged he was stymied by the extent to which the company put expenses directly onto its balance sheet rather than taking them as an upfront hit to profits, which resulted in the unbuilt parts of the site becoming overvalued on the balance sheet.
I.
These current valuation disputes follow a legacy of red flags.
A consortium of Malaysian investors — led by SP Setia and Sime Darby Property (SDP), alongside Malaysia’s Employees Provident Fund (EPF) — acquired the site out of bankruptcy in 2012.