MINETECH RESOURCES BHD’s share price jumped from 18 sen on Jan 30 to a high of 31.5 sen on Feb 17, only to fall back to 18.5 sen on Feb 27.

Not long before the stock started its roller-coaster ride, IT businessman Chin Boon Long accumulated shares in the company and surfaced as a substantial shareholder with a 6.91% stake on Jan 9. He had raised his stake further to 11.83% as at Jan 13, but pared it down to 6.67% as at

Feb 7 and ceased to be a substantial shareholder as at Feb 10.

Chin’s entry into and exit from Minetech coincided with news and announcements that could have affected the stock’s movements.

There was a news report on Jan 11 that Minetech might get a job to build a casino in Cambodia. This was followed by talk that it might tie up with Sany Group, a heavy machinery giant in China, to undertake projects, which was confirmed by Minetech in a Feb 14 announcement.

Minetech’s shares hit a high of 31.5 sen on

Feb 17 but then started to fall again.

Investors would still remember Chin, whose rejection of an unbelievably good offer for Ingenuity Solutions Bhd in September 2012 led to the stock plummeting from over 45 sen to 11 sen. The offer, at 55 sen, was conditional upon several shareholders, including Chin, accepting the deal.

Chin then said he would hold on to Ingenuity’s shares for two years. But he was seen selling a large number of them in mid-2013 when the stock was trading at 10 sen or less.

This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly Edition, on March 3 - March 9, 2014.