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Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) CEO Ng Yat Chung will be stepping down from his post on May 16, together with the current directors of SPH.

New CEO is CapitaLand executive

In an email to staff on Friday, May 13, Ng shared that Gerald Yong – CapitaLand's CEO for Special Projects – will be appointed as the new chief executive of SPH from Monday, according to The Straits Times (ST).

A new board will then be constituted.

Yong is currently a board member of the Singapore Environment Council (SEC), a non-profit organisation that facilitates environmental causes in Singapore.

Prior to his role as CapitaLand's CEO for Special Projects, Yong was the CEO of CapitaLand International for three years. He was also the Chief Investment Officer (CIO) of Ascott, a wholly owned lodging business unit of CapitaLand, from 2012 to 2017.

Before CapitaLand, Yong had served as the Vice President of Strategy and Business Development at Sembcorp Industries for three years.

He has a degree in mechanical engineering from NUS, and an MBA from the Imperial College of London.

Ng to serve as senior advisor

According to ST, after stepping down, Ng will remain as senior adviser to SPH to ensure a "smooth transition" for the new board and CEO.

In his email, Ng said he was pleased to be succeeded by Yong, and added that Yong had a "stellar record" and is "well qualified" to lead the company in "the next lap".

From May 16, the new board will also have a new chairman, Christopher Lim, who is also chairman of Cuscaden Peak, a consortium formed by hotel and property tycoon Ong Beng Seng.

In his e-mail, Ng thanked current SPH chairman Lee Boon Yang and the directors for their "guidance and support" over the years, and welcomed Lim and the new SPH board members onboard.

Ng has been CEO of SPH since September 2017.

SPH officially delisted from stock market

On May 13, SPH was officially delisted, marking the end of 38 years on the Singapore Exchange.

It is now wholly owned by Cuscaden Peak, after SPH shareholders voted overwhelmingly to sell the assets of the company at an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) in March, reported ST.

SPH consists of non-media assets such as retail, including several malls in Singapore like Paragon, and aged care properties.

It restructured its media business – including The Straits Times and Lianhe Zaobao – into a not-for-profit entity SPH Media Trust in December 2021.

SPH Media Trust will be given up to S$900 million over five years by the Ministry of Communications and Information (MCI), to sustain its current operations and to invest in the future.

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Top images via The Straits Times/YouTube and CapitaLand