This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily on June 21, 2019

KUALA LUMPUR: RHB Bank Bhd saw 231.96 million shares, equivalent to 5.78% of the group’s total share capital of 4.01 billion shares, transacted off-market yesterday.

According to Bloomberg data, there were 33 transactions in total ranging from 50,000 shares to the largest of 59.6 million shares. The transactions were effected at between RM5.45 and RM5.60, and worth a collective RM1.26 billion.

Parties involved in these transactions were not known at press time, but earlier in the week, local media reported that United Arab Emirates-based Aabar Investments PJS intends to exit RHB entirely by putting up its remaining shares for sale.

Aabar is a unit of Abu Dhabi sovereign fund Mubadala Investment Co. In August last year, it placed out 120.3 million shares or 3% of RHB, at RM5.07 a share, raising RM609.92 million.

RHB Bank closed eight sen or 1.45% higher to RM5.59 yesterday, valuing the company at RM22.42 billion. Some 13.98 million shares were traded.

RHB’s share price had been on a rising trend earlier this year, before falling steeply in early March, when theedgemarkets.com reported that Aabar was placing out about 191 million shares or 4.76% of its 14.75% stake in the country’s fourth largest lender.

Aabar was left with a 9.99% stake or 400.52 million shares of RHB as at March 13, after placing out the shares through three placing agents, namely JPMorgan Securities (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, JP Morgan Securities Plc and CIMB Investment Bank Bhd.

Subsequently, its share price resumed its uptrend and reached a four-year high of RM5.88 on May 21, before slipping to the current level.

Aabar’s entry into RHB can be traced back to June 2011, when it acquired a 24.9% block of RHB at RM10.80 a share, or RM5.89 billion from sister company Abu Dhabi Commercial Bank.

In 2016 RHB undertook a restructuring exercise involving a rights issue, and RHB Bank Bhd assumed the listing status of RHB Capital, with each RHB Capital share converted into 1.3 RHB shares. Aabar, which did not participate in the rights issue, saw its shareholding diluted to 17.75%.

The Employees Provident Fund is the largest shareholder of RHB, with a 40.56% stake or 1.63 billion shares as at March 12.