Catherine Wu quits CDL subsidiary Millennium & Copthorne Hotels

Dr Catherine Wu, who was thrown into the spotlight in a high-profile boardroom battle between Mr Kwek Leng Beng and his son Sherman, has resigned as an unpaid adviser to Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (M&C).

In a press release late on March 4, Mr Kwek Leng Beng said M&C, the hotel arm of City Developments Limited (CDL), has received the "irrevocable resignation" of Dr Wu as an unpaid independent adviser, with immediate effect.

"Now that Dr Wu has resigned, the CEO (Sherman Kwek) 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," said the older Mr Kwek, who is CDL executive chairman.

"It is high time that we restore investor confidence and ensure those breaches of corporate governance committed by the CEO and his team of directors, including breaches of the SGX listing rules and the Code of Corporate Governance, will never happen again," he said.

Last week, the father accused his son and a group of directors of an attempted coup. The older Mr Kwek also alleged that there were major lapses in CDL's board independence and governance issues.

Following a court hearing on Feb 26, the judge agreed that his son and six independent directors would voluntarily halt implementing a number of resolutions while court proceedings are under way.

The two independent directors - Ms Jennifer Duong Young and Ms Wong Su-Yen - whom the older Mr Kwek alleged were "irregularly and hastily appointed" on Feb 7 have also agreed not to take any further actions until further notice of the court.

In response, Mr Sherman Kwek has denied any attempt to oust the chairman.

He said Dr Wu is the reason for the dispute between his father and himself as well as CDL's majority board of directors as she "wields and exercises enormous influence".

"These matters have troubled us as directors," said Mr Sherman Kwek.

In his March 4 statement, Mr Kwek Leng Beng said it is time to focus on the issues that CDL has to address.

These include the Sincere Property debacle which resulted in an extraordinary loss of $1.9 billion for CDL in FY2020; poorly judged investment decisions in the United Kingdom property market which led to substantial financial setbacks, culminating in a 94 per cent drop in profits during the first half of 2023; and CDL's weak share price since Mr Sherman Kwek took the helm in 2018.

He also noted that CDL's share price has taken a further beating following the breaches of the relevant regulations by the CEO and his team of directors.

This, he said, signalled diminished investor confidence and growing shareholder apprehension.