Former DP World chairman and CEO Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem will take interim charge of Malaysia’s MMC Port Holdings, according to a July 12 memo seen by Reuters, after group chief executive Azman Shah Mohd Yusof left the post with immediate effect.
The memo did not give a reason for Azman’s departure or say when a permanent replacement would be named. Reuters could not determine when veteran Dubai ports executive Bin Sulayem was appointed executive chairman of MMC Ports.
MMC did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the contents of the memo. Azman did not immediately respond to a call and phone message seeking comment. Bin Sulayem could not immediately be reached by Reuters.
The July 12 memo, addressed to MMC Port management and the chief executives of its operating ports, said all matters that would previously have gone to the group CEO should now be sent directly to Bin Sulayem’s office.
“Azman has ceased to serve as the Group Chief Executive Officer of MMC Port, effective immediately,” the memo said.
The interim reporting line is intended to keep leadership, governance and decision-making steady across the group, according to the memo. Bin Sulayem said in the memo he expected operations and strategic projects to continue without disruption and that the company would maintain business momentum while ensuring continuity and stability across MMC Ports.
MMC Ports is Malaysia’s largest port operating group, with seven ports situated along or near the Strait of Malacca, a narrow sea lane linking the Indian Ocean and the Pacific that is vital to global trade.
The strait is one of the world’s most important shipping chokepoints. The U.S. Energy Information Administration has said it is also among the world’s most important oil transit routes by volume.
MMC Ports had been expected to pursue what could have been Malaysia’s biggest IPO in more than a decade, but Reuters reported in October that the company delayed the planned listing.
