This article first appeared in Capital, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on February 18, 2019 - February 24, 2019
Notable Filings
BETWEEN Jan 31 and Feb 8, notable shareholding changes at companies listed on Bursa Malaysia included those at Practice Note 17 (PN17) company Utusan Melayu (Malaysia) Bhd, which publishes Utusan Malaysia and Kosmo!.
On Feb 8, Utusan executive chairman Datuk Abd Aziz Sheikh Fadzir emerged as a substantial shareholder following a purchase of 35 million shares, representing a 31.61% stake. The shares were purchased via his private vehicle Opulence Asia Sdn Bhd at 19 sen apiece, for a total of RM6.65 million.
The shares’ seller was not revealed, but it is most likely to be the United Malays National Organisation (Umno), as the political party was the largest shareholder of Utusan as at March 30 last year, owning 55.1 million shares or a 49.77% stake.
Given his 31.61% stake, Abd Aziz is now the largest shareholder of Utusan, followed by Umno with 18.17%, and tycoon Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Albukhary’s Nilam Setar (M) Sdn Bhd, with 14.76%.
Utusan shares have more than doubled from 12 sen apiece on Jan 31 to its close last Tuesday of 27 sen apiece, valuing the company at RM29.9 million.
At information technology (IT) company TFP Solutions Bhd, Daniel Boo Hui Siong emerged as a substantial shareholder with the purchase of 10.5 million shares, representing a 5.15% stake, on Jan 31.
Boo — the managing director of IT solutions company Idimension Consolidated Bhd — acquired the shares from former TFP Solutions managing director, Quah Tek Jin.
TFP Solutions provides business management solutions and converged infrastructure solutions. Last October, it acquired 75% of Jejak Semangat Sdn Bhd, which holds a mobile virtual network operator (MVNO) licence from the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission (MCMC).
At digital media company Asia Media Group Bhd, largest shareholder Wong SK Holdings Sdn Bhd disposed of 12 million shares, representing 5% of the company, on Jan 31 to Chow Zee Neng.
Wong SK Holdings is the vehicle of Asia Media founder and CEO Datuk Wong Shee Kai.
Wong further acquired 1.3 million Asia Media shares on the same day, bringing his total shareholding to 12.15 million shares or a 5.1% stake.
Last September, Chow emerged as a substantial shareholder in Asia Media and, with the latest acquisition, is now the largest shareholder with a 18.3% stake.
Testa Holdings Ltd, the largest shareholder of China-based edible vegetable oil producer XingHe Holdings Bhd, disposed of 100 million shares in the company, representing a 3.9% stake for a total of RM500,000 or 0.5 sen apiece, on Jan 31.
On the same day, XingHe’s non-executive chairman Ng Min Lin bought 71 million shares at 1.5 sen apiece for a total of RM1.06 million, taking his shareholding to 98.14 million shares or a 3.8% stake.
XingHe shares closed unchanged at 4 sen apiece last Tuesday, valuing the company at RM102.94 million.
During the week in review, Felda Investment Corp Sdn Bhd disposed of 108 million shares or a 3.6% stake in Iris Corp Bhd.
Following the disposal, Felda’s shareholding in the trusted identification and information technology company was pared down to 5.97%, from 11.6% last October.
Notable movements
Shares in diversified corporation Cahya Mata Sarawak Bhd (CMS) have gained about 32 sen or 12% year to date. The counter ended last Tuesday at RM3.01 apiece, for a market capitalisation of RM3.2 billion.
During the week in review, the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) had purchased 1.16 million CMS shares, or a 0.1% stake, lifting the fund’s total shareholding to 120.3 million shares or 11.2%.
At the same time, Datuk Seri Sulaiman Abdul Rahman Taib, the son of Sarawak governor Tun Abdul Taib Mahmud, purchased 136,000 CMS shares to increase his stake in the group to about 10%.
On Jan 31, Piti Pramotedham ceased to be a substantial shareholder of enterprise data management company Kronologi Asia Bhd, following a disposal of 12 million shares, or a 3.01% stake.
Pramotedham is co-founder and former executive chairman of Kronologi Asia.
Last Tuesday, Kronologi Asia shares increased by 6.7% year to date to 64 sen, for a market capitalisation of RM255 million.
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