Alphaland sells stake in Shangri-La hotel to Malaysia's Kuok Group - Hotel in Malaysia Blog

Alphaland sells stake in Shangri-La hotel to Malaysia's Kuok Group
Malaysia Airlines to end hotel stays for MH370 families | The Herald
Flight 370 Families Detain Malaysian Air Staff at Hotel | The Jakarta ...

Alphaland sells stake in Shangri-La hotel to Malaysia's Kuok Group

Posted: 30 Apr 2014 04:17 AM PDT

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MANILA - The property firm of former trade minister Roberto V. Ongpin has sold its entire stake in the Shangri-La at the Fort to the property arm of Malaysia's Kuok Group.

In a disclosure to the Philippine Stock Exchange, Alphaland Corp said its wholly owned subsidiary completed today a deal to sell its 20 percent interest in the hotel to units of Shang Properties Inc for a cash consideration of P1.7 billion.

The upscale leisure developer's divestment comes at a time when it is faced with difficulties, stemming from its dispute with former controlling shareholder Ashmore Group.

According to Alphaland, the UK-based fund had refused to fund the property developer and had intended to divest but has yet to find a buyer for its stake. Banks had declined to lend money to Alphaland amid uncertainty over the ownership structure of the Philippine firm.

Alphaland last January called for more capital from shareholders, allowing the Ongpin group to wrest control of the property developer.

The PSE has suspended trading of Alphaland shares since January 20 as the bourse evaluates the repercussions of a disclosure related to the alleged simulated sale of the company's shares in 2012 so the firm can maintain its listed status. The bourse is also reviewing the leisure developer's recent issuance of shares pursuant to a property swap and capital call.

Last month, the PSE found Alphaland in violation of its rules for failure to submit full, fair, accurate and timely disclosures of material information. Citing the property firm's repeated violations of disclosures rules, the bourse initiated involuntary delisting procedures over the company and its securities.

Alphaland is entitled to a delisting hearing under the Exchange's Rules on Delisting.

Malaysia Airlines to end hotel stays for MH370 families | The Herald

Posted: 01 May 2014 03:01 PM PDT

KUALA LUMPUR. — Malaysia Airlines will cease to provide hotel accommodation for relatives of missing flight MH370 passengers by May 7, the airline said yesterday.
The Malaysian flag carrier has provided hotel accommodation for relatives in a number of countries —most of them in Malaysia and China —where it provided them periodic updates on the situation since shortly after the flight mysteriously disappeared on March 8.
But relatives' tempers have repeatedly flared, particularly at the Lido Hotel in Beijing where Chinese families have regularly lashed out at officials from the Malaysian government and the airline over their inability to explain the plane's disappearance on May 7.

"Instead of staying in hotels, the families of MH370 are advised to receive information updates on the progress of the search and investigation and other support by Malaysia Airlines within the comfort of their own homes, with the support and care of their families and friends," the airline said in a statement.

"In line with this adjustment, Malaysia Airlines will be closing all of its family assistance centres around the world by 7 May, 2014."
Wen Wancheng, whose son was on the flight, said that relatives have come under pressure from time to time to leave the hotel and go back home, but was adamant that they would refuse to do so.

"Today MAS brought this up officially and we're not going to accept it," he told AFP, referring to the airline.
"They made the commitment in March that they wouldn't drive us out of the Lido until any wreckage was found," he said.

The government-controlled carrier also said it would soon make advance compensation payments to the next-of-kin of the 239 people on-board the plane, part of a final package to be agreed upon later.

It did not specify the amounts.
Wen, the Chinese relative, expressed concern about the payments.

"It has to have a legal basis," he said.
"Is this for relatives' mental damages or the casualties of our family members on-board?"

About two-thirds of those aboard the missing plane, which vanished from radar en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on March 8, were Chinese nationals. The airline also had provided psychiatric support at hotels for families trying to cope with the tragedy.

The carrier said it would establish centres in Beijing and Kuala Lumpur to provide "follow-up support and services" but gave no further specifics.
A Malaysia Airlines spokeswoman declined to offer further details when contacted. —AFP.

Flight 370 Families Detain Malaysian Air Staff at Hotel | The Jakarta ...

Posted: 26 Apr 2014 12:47 AM PDT

Australia's HMAS Success searches for the missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 on April 2, 2014. A mini-sub is being sent out for the second time in the Indian Ocean. (EPA Photo/Abis Julianne Cropley/Australian Department of Defense)

Chicago. Frustrated relatives of passengers on the missing Malaysian Air jet held the carrier's staff in a Beijing hotel ballroom for more than 10 hours as they demanded the Malaysian government give a fuller accounting of Flight 370.

Tensions have been rising among the mostly Chinese family members over incomplete or conflicting reports shared by government officials as a submarine hunt for the Boeing 777 has failed to yield any debris. A relative of a missing passenger attacked Kalaichelven Shunmugam, Malaysia Airlines' security supervisor, kicking him in the knee in an April 22 incident, the airline said.

The latest skirmish started when 10 airline staff gathered with about 200 family members at 3 pm on April 24, at Beijing's Metropark Lido Hotel, where the carrier has provided regular updates on the hunt for the missing aircraft.

Staff members were made to wait in the hotel ballroom while about 60 relatives went to the Malaysian Embassy in an attempt to get a government official to attend the session. They were released at 1:44 am local time yesterday, according to a statement on Malaysia Airlines website.

Malaysian Prime Minister Najib Razak told CNN's Richard Quest on April 24 that he's prepared to release a preliminary report on the mysterious flight next week and isn't yet ready to declare the plane and its passengers lost.

"At some point in time I would be, but right now I think I need to take into account the feelings of the next of kin — and some of them have said publicly that they aren't willing to accept it until they find hard evidence," Razak said.

Elusive hunt

That's proven elusive for a Bluefin-21 unmanned underwater vehicle, which has combed 95 percent of the initial search area over 13 missions. The hunt will expand to regions next to the 10-kilometer radius it was searching in the Indian Ocean if nothing is found, Australia's Joint Agency Coordination Centre said in a statement yesterday.

"We are currently consulting very closely with our international partners on the best way to continue the search into the future," the JACC said in the statement.

Widening the seabed area would be the next phase in the search for the Malaysian Airline System Bhd. plane that vanished March 8 with 239 people on its way to Beijing from Kuala Lumpur. At 50 days, the effort to find Flight 370 is the longest search for a missing passenger jet in modern aviation history.

The Bluefin-21 submarine has been searching for about two weeks to find wreckage. It's bouncing sound waves off the pitch-black Indian Ocean floor to create images of the seabed in hopes of pinpointing debris from the plane.

The current search zone lies about 1,584 kilometers northwest of Perth, Australia. As many as eight military aircraft and 10 ships were involved in yesterday's search, JACC said.

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