This article first appeared in Capital, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on August 14, 2017 - August 20, 2017

XIAN Leng Holdings Bhd saw 6.98 million shares or a 9.65% stake traded off market in five direct transactions on Aug 7. The shares were transacted at 45 sen apiece, which was at a substantial 23.7% discount to the stock’s closing price of 59 sen that day.

The buyer was executive director Datuk Ng Jet Heong, who was appointed to the board on May 25. He did not hold Xian Leng shares prior to the off-market transactions on Aug 7. Each transaction involved stakes of between 1.51% and 2.56%.

Ng is now the single largest shareholder ahead of The Best Source Holdings Pte Ltd (7.1%), according to the latest annual report. Until March last year, Ng was also executive director of Yong Tai Bhd.

Apart from Ng, the only other executive director of Xian Leng is Kuan Kai Seng, who is also the CEO. The stock has surged since closing at 38 sen on March 31, rising as much as 57.9% to hit 60 sen on June 20, a 22-month high.

In its financial year ended Jan 31, 2017 (FY2017), Xian Leng — a commercial ornamental fish breeder — suffered a net loss of RM3.88 million on revenue of RM10.93 million, which was down 15.2% year on year. It attributed the decline to lower sales volume and selling price amid higher impairments.

Over at Ire-Tex Corp Bhd, two direct transactions on Aug 3 saw 9.29 million shares or 6.73% equity interest traded off market at 18 sen apiece or a total of RM1.67 million. The transacted price represents a one-sen premium to the stock’s closing price of 17 sen that day.

The buyer was likely Datuk Donald Lim Siang Chai, chairman of property developer Jiankun International Bhd and Cabinet member between 2003 and 2013. He was deputy finance minister and deputy minister of tourism, among others.

Lim emerged as a substantial shareholder in Ire-Tex after acquiring 13.29 million shares on Aug 3, according to an Aug 4 filing. At 10.03% or 13.85 million shares total, he is the third largest shareholder behind Elite Cosmo Group Ltd (16.23%) and Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp Ltd (15.78%).

Ire-Tex has been in the spotlight since April amid an ongoing boardroom tussle between its directors and a group of shareholders led by Elite Cosmo. The latter had previously called for the removal of the current directors via an extraordinary general meeting.

On June 21, the current Ire-Tex directors filed a lawsuit against Elite Cosmo and other parties, including current director Kong Hon Kay, former director Tey Por Yee, chief operating officer Christopher Purcell and Famous Bluechip Sdn Bhd, which ceased to be a substantial shareholder on Aug 1.

On Aug 7, Ire-Tex promoted vice-president Saharun Nizam Saharan to CEO with immediate effect. He was appointed vice-president in April this year, returning after having ended a seven-year tenure with Ire-Tex last October.

There were a number of off-market transactions involving banks in the period under review. At Malayan Banking Bhd, 35.5 million shares worth RM342.22 million were traded in a series of direct deals at RM9.64 to RM9.65 apiece between Aug 2 and 4. The stock ended at RM9.65 on those days.

On Aug 8, a string of off-market transactions saw another 3.61 million Maybank shares change hands at RM35.35 million or RM9.80 apiece, mirroring the open market price that day.

BIMB Holdings Bhd saw 11.1 million shares sold in a single off-market deal on Aug 4 for a total of RM48.84 million. The shares were transacted at RM4.40 each, which was at a three-sen premium to the stock’s last traded price of RM4.37 that day. This is the latest in a series of off-market transactions that included a 1.8% stake transaction at the end of July.

Meanwhile, 7-Eleven Malaysia Holdings Bhd saw 35.35 million shares or a 3.27% stake sold in two direct transactions on Aug 3 for RM50.89 million. Both transactions — of 13.44 million and 37.45 million shares — were priced at RM1.40 apiece. This follows a 4.7% block (52.37 million shares) that changed hands off market for a total of RM70.2 million in the previous week via direct and cross trades.

While no buyer has been named in the two transactions, Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar of Johor emerged as a substantial shareholder last week after acquiring 629,100 shares on Aug 7, according to a filing with Bursa.

The Johor ruler’s total shareholding stands at 93.69 million shares or 8.44% equity interest, the second largest individual shareholder in the convenience store chain.

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