CDL board seats vacated as 3 directors exit hotel arm

The resignations took effect on 22 April.

Three independent non-executive directors of City Developments Limited (CDL) have resigned from the board of the group’s hotel arm, Millennium & Copthorne Hotels Limited (MCHL).

CDL announced that Jennifer Duong Young, Daniel Marie Ghislain Desbaillets and Wong Ai Ai will step down from the M&C board, according to a bourse filing.

The resignations came into effect on 22 April, about a year after they were appointed during a feud in 2025. This involved CDL Executive Chairman Kwek Leng Beng filing a lawsuit against his son, Sherman Kwek, who serves as the group's CEO.

The three were amongst six directors accused by the elder Kwek of attempting to consolidate control of the board. The lawsuit was later dropped after Sherman alleged that Catherine Wu, an unpaid independent adviser to the M&C board, had interfered in matters beyond her advisory role, leading to her stepping down from that position.

In a separate statement, MCHL said the directors stepped down from its board to focus on their responsibilities on the CDL Board.  

This development is also in line with the appointment of two new MCHL directors, David Michels and Howard Panter, on 27 March.

"With the new directors who have now come onboard to expand and strengthen our board, we are confident that these changes will support the group’s continued growth and development as part of our ongoing renewal," said Kwek Leng Beng, executive chairman of CDL Group and MCHL.

The company said the changes "do not affect MCHL’s ongoing operations or governance oversight and will further strengthen the board’s expertise to support the group’s continued growth and development, in alignment with CDL."