SHAH ALAM - Fashion Valet Sdn Bhd (FashionValet) co-founders Vivy Yusof and Fadzarudin Anuar are thinking of stepping down and relinquishing their positions, citing the need to support the company’s ongoing turnaround efforts.
In a statement, the couple took responsibility for FashionValet’s recent challenges, attributing the setbacks to overly ambitious expansion plans that failed to adapt to market changes.
They also expressed regret for the controversy surrounding state-owned investors Khazanah Nasional and Permodalan Nasional Berhad (PNB), who invested RM47 million in the company in 2018.
Finance Ministry later confirmed that both organisations recouped RM3.1 million from their recent sale of shares, downplaying the losses relative to their overall income.
"We think it is time for us to step away from the business and relinquish our positions. We do not want the ensuing issues to further affect the company, considering that it is in the stages of a turnaround.
"There are so many things we wish we had done differently, so many other factors we wished we had considered before embarking on our expansion plans,” they said in a statement posted on Vivy and Fadza’s Instagram account.
Addressing critics over their lavish lifestyle, Vivy and Fadza said they had personally continued to curate a positive and hopeful face to the world, naively thinking that maintaining such a posture would instill confidence in our brand and products.
The two also apologised for the controversy had caused Khazanah and PNB, noting that the institutions had always acted professionally and in the best interest of their organisations.
"We hope this disappointment does not become a deterrence, and they will continue to support other local entrepreneurs,” they said.
Khazanah and PNB received RM3.1 million from the sale of their shares in FashionValet, the Finance Ministry said on Monday.
In 2018, Khazanah and PNB invested a combined RM47 million in FashionValet, with Khazanah contributing RM27 million and PNB RM20 million, to acquire minority stakes.
"The total loss from the sale of FashionValet shares is negligible compared to Khazanah’s and PNB’s overall income for the relevant year,” the ministry stated.