KUALA LUMPUR (April 7): KUB Malaysia Bhd's chairman cum largest shareholder, Datuk Seri Johari Abdul Ghani, has bought another 1.71 million shares via his investment arm JAG Capital Holdings Bhd, raising his equity interest in the company to 32.96%, just 0.04% shy of the 33% threshold that will trigger a mandatory general offer.

KUB said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia today that the acquisition took place on Monday (April 6) via the open market. KUB’s shares price closed at 24.5 sen yesterday.

JAG Capital has been accumulating shares in the company since end-March. It bought 182,100 shares on March 30, followed by 443,900 shares on April 1, and another three million shares on April 2.

It first emerged as a substantial shareholder of KUB on March 1, 2019, after acquiring some 178.07 million shares or 31.99% stake in the company from Anchorscape Sdn Bhd, for RM121.09 million. It was reported that JAG Capital bought the stake at 68 sen per share, representing a 72.15% premium to the KUB’s closing price of 39.5 sen then.

KUB's share price closed four sen or 16.33% higher at 28.5 sen today, giving it a market capitalisation of RM158.59 million. The counter has fallen some 30.5% in the past one-year from when it was trading at 41 sen.