KUALA LUMPUR, April 22 — A local company is interested in acquiring the National Feedlot Corporation (NFC) to revive the scandal-ridden company, Agriculture and Agro-based Industry Minister Datuk Salahuddin Ayub said today.
“I have been made to understand there is a company who wants to buy the original company (NFC).
“The ministry will take the stance to facilitate and go through the legal terms that may be needed and if it is carried out via B2B (business to business), we will facilitate,” he told reporters here.
Salahuddin also revealed that his ministry had set conditions for the interested party.
“Among the conditions I have given is for the new company to be prepared to pay back the loan that was given by the Ministry of Finance,” he said.
The NFC was formed in 2007 with its subsidiary, National Feedlot Centre, created to monitor, guide, and train contract farmers to expand the local beef industry and move away from the government’s dependency on imported meat.
NFC had taken out a RM250 million loan from the Finance Ministry as capital to start its operations aimed at being able to satisfy 30 per cent of the local demand for beef.
“We have to see the amount of the loan, and if the incoming company manages to return the money to the Finance Ministry, to me that is good enough.
“For sure with a big investment, I am confident the new company will be able to rebuild the prominent project,” said Salahuddin.
Salahuddin added that his ministry would also facilitate the acquisition process by offering advice to the new company on land purchasing to carry out its operations, should the need arise.
Following its formation, NFC found itself embroiled in scandal, after Chief Executive Officer Datuk Seri Mohamad Salleh, husband of Wanita Umno former chief Tan Sri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil, was charged with two counts of criminal breach of trust involving some RM49.7 million.
But in November 2015, Mohamad Salleh was acquitted.
Salahuddin had said last year that his ministry was in the midst of a rebranding NFC.
