This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on December 14, 2018

KUALA LUMPUR: The Securities Commission Malaysia (SC) has reprimanded and fined Can-One Bhd’s major shareholder Yeoh Jin Hoe and parties acting in concert (PAC) with him for failing to make a mandatory general offer (MGO) for the rest of Kian Joo Can Factory Bhd after they triggered the 33% MGO threshold.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia yesterday, Can-One said the SC had, vide its letter dated Dec 10, 2018, reprimanded Yeoh and the PAC (which include wholly-owned unit Can-One International Sdn Bhd) for breach of Section 218(2) of the Capital Markets and Services Act, 2007 and Paragraph 9(1)(a) of the Take-Overs Code.

The SC has also imposed a penalty of RM455,000 on Yeoh and the PAC, as well as a restriction on the voting rights that may be exercised by the PAC in Kian Joo to not more than 33%.

Yeoh is the group managing director of Kian Joo and its unit Box-Pak (Malaysia) Bhd. He holds a 26.98% stake in Can-One, which has a 32.9% shareholding in Kian Joo.

“In addition, if the proposed corporate exercise for which consultation with the SC was held on Dec 21, 2017 is not carried out within six months from Dec 10, 2018, the parties acting in concert are required to reduce their collective holdings in Kian Joo to 33% and below,” it said.