KUALA LUMPUR (March 19): UMW Holdings Bhd shares regained lost ground and rose much as 12 sen or 1.82% this morning to trade at RM6.18 after president and group chief executive officer Badrul Feisal Abdul Rahim defended the cash call for the group’s takeover of MBM Resources Bhd.

The counter had seen as many as 213,000 shares crossed as at 10.08am, paring gains to trade up 7 sen at RM6.13. It was the 14th top gainer on Bursa Malaysia with a market capitalisation of RM7.08 billion.

Badrul told The Edge Malaysia in an exclusive interview that he believed UMW’s proposed rights issue seeking up to RM1.1 billion was “actually the best for the company.”

The market had earlier responded negatively to the cash call, with the stock falling 9.09% within a day to RM5.90 last Wednesday and erasing gains of 9.07% made following the announcement of the proposed acquisition.

However, the stock had recovered to trade at RM6.06 on Friday.

Also in the interview, Badrul said that on top of greater control over national carmaker Perusahaan Otomobil Kedua Sdn Bhd (Perodua), UMW would benefit from a natural fit with MBM Resources’ businesses of motor trading and manufacturing of automotive parts.

On March 9, UMW had announced that it was offering to buy a 50.7% controlling stake in MBM Resources at RM2.56 per share, or RM501 million in total.