CDL's Sherman Kwek says Catherine Wu, father’s former PA and board adviser, is source of dispute

SINGAPORE: The legal wrangle and public war of words between property tycoon Kwek Leng Beng and his son Sherman continued on Thursday (Feb 27), with the younger man singling out his father's associate as the source of a dispute within their company City Developments Limited (CDL).

Dr Catherine Wu, 65, is an adviser to the board of Millennium & Copthorne Hotels (M&C), a subsidiary of CDL.

Mr Sherman Kwek, the group CEO of CDL, said Dr Wu has been "interfering in matters going well beyond her scope", adding that "she wields and exercises enormous influence".

"These matters have troubled us as directors. Due to her long relationship with the chairman, efforts that were made to manage the situation were done sensitively, but to no avail," he said in a statement.

"This led us, with the benefit of legal advice, to propose a resolution to terminate the advisory agreement Dr Wu has with the board of M&C and another to affirm that Dr Wu has no power and authority, among other things, to influence or advise the directors, management and staff of the CDL and M&C Groups.

"We considered them to be necessary to protect the interests of the shareholders and relevant staff of the CDL Group, and to restore proper corporate governance and accountability."

CDL is one of Singapore's largest property companies, controlled by the Kwek family.

The family feud and boardroom tussle was thrust into the public spotlight on Wednesday when CDL's 84-year-old executive chairman Kwek Leng Beng issued a statement, saying he was taking his son to court over alleged governance lapses and an attempted power grab at the board level.

He characterised his son’s actions as an attempted "coup" and said he was seeking to restore corporate integrity. In a second statement late on Wednesday, the elder Kwek announced that his son and other directors acting with him have agreed to cease further action following a court hearing. 

NO ATTEMPT TO OUST CHAIRMAN: SHERMAN KWEK

Mr Sherman Kwek, 49, said on Thursday that his father’s first statement failed to present a "full picture" of the dispute.

"The chairman’s claim that there is an ‘attempted coup’ by the majority directors to consolidate control of CDL’s board is not only incorrect, it distracts from the nub of the issue, therefore requiring us to respond to present the full picture.

"There has been no attempt by us to oust the chairman."

Dr Wu was embroiled in an employment tribunal case in London in 2018. In the judgment, she was described as the personal assistant to Mr Kwek Leng Beng, although she was not an employee and was paid by the chairman.

The judgment said she acts as his "eyes and ears" due to his age. 

Mr Sherman Kwek said the resolutions to terminate Dr Wu's board advisory agreement was passed by the majority of the board on Feb 21.

His father filed court papers on Feb 25, and the minority directors including the older Kwek asked the court to hear the case on the merits of an urgent basis, unsuccessfully asking that the resolutions be reversed.

"The majority directors are alive to their duties and will continue to uphold corporate governance and accountability within the CDL Group," said Mr Sherman Kwek. 

COURT HEARING

In his statement, Mr Sherman Kwek also touched on the court hearing that took place on Wednesday afternoon, describing it as an attempt to "ambush" the majority directors.

"It has not been disclosed that the minority directors, comprising the chairman, Mr Kwek Leng Beng, Mr Philip Yeo, Mr Colin Ong and Mr Chong Yoon Chou, served five of us court papers just after noon on Feb 26, 2025 for a hearing that was held only two and a half hours later," he said.

"Without giving us the opportunity to respond in time to give the court the full picture, the minority directors tried to get the court to grant interim injunctions to restrain the majority directors on the board of CDL, comprising six independent directors and myself, from implementing a number of resolutions, to restrain two independent directors from exercising powers as directors and to reverse a number of resolutions that had been passed by the majority directors on the board of CDL."

Mr Kwek added that the suggestion in his father's second press statement that the minority directors succeeded in their application and that lapses of corporate governance at CDL and its subsidiaries have been halted is "most unfortunate".

"What in fact happened was that because the majority directors did not have the opportunity to present our case, we voluntarily offered undertakings, as defendants often do in such urgent applications, to preserve the status quo until a full hearing where we would have that opportunity."

This undertaking was that they would cease any further action for the time being.

"This explains why the court made it a point to say it was not making any substantive orders on the minority directors’ application, a point which is not found in the chairman’s second statement," Mr Sherman Kwek said.

"The chairman also did not mention that all the directors, including the chairman and the minority directors, were directed by the court to refrain until the dispute is resolved from doing anything in relation to CDL’s subsidiaries, Singapura Developments (Private) Limited and Millennium & Copthorne Hotels Limited, that would prejudice the other party’s position in the dispute."

Mr Sherman Kwek also said that there was no mention by his father of the fact that the lawyers for the minority directors were questioned by the court about whether they had been validly appointed by CDL.

This resulted in the lawyers saying that they would "leave out CDL" for the hearing, he said, adding that his group was the one who asked for the full hearing to be held early. The court agreed to this. 

"Therefore, despite the attempt to ambush us, the minority directors did not succeed in persuading the court to hear and decide the merits, and in fact ended up on the receiving end of directions themselves and unable to use CDL's name at the hearing."