BETWEEN Aug 26 and Sept 1, 644.65 million shares worth RM510.26 million changed hands off market over four trading days in blocks of at least 425,000 shares.

At Destini Bhd (fundamental: 1.70; valuation: 1.10), 267.83 million  shares changed hands in four transactions on Aug 27 and 28. The group announced its quarterly financial results — a 192% y-o-y increase in net profit to RM3.59 million for the quarter ended June 30 — on Aug 28, amid the transactions.

Cayman Islands-registered fund, Harbour Capital Management Ltd, first acquired 67.83 million Destini shares on Aug 27 through its Harbour Asia Opportunity Master Fund, giving it a total of 160 million shares or a 19.8% stake. Then on Aug 28, Harbour Capital Management sold its entire stake in Destini in a direct off-market transaction.

All the shares were done at 58 sen a piece, in line with the group’s closing share price of 58 sen and 59 sen on the same days the transactions took place.

At the same time, Aroma Teraju Sdn Bhd emerged as a substantial shareholder after acquiring some 200 million shares or a 24.75% stake on Aug 28. Aroma Teraju is controlled by the Ministry of Finance and used to have shares in companies like Pos Malaysia Bhd. Destini’s largest shareholder is still Datuk Rozabil Rahman.

Magna Prima Bhd saw some 33 million shares worth RM26.29 million transacted off market between Aug 26 and 27. This adds up to a 9.91% stake in Magna Prima (fundamental: 1.10; valuation: 2.00).

Two blocks of five million shares crossed off market on Aug 26 at 80 sen a share, a 14.9% discount to the 94 sen they fetched on the open market at the time.

Subsequently, two blocks of 13 million shares and 10 million shares changed hands on Aug 27 at 79.5 sen a piece, 16.8% below the 95.5 sen they fetched on the open market. On Aug 27, another 35,000 shares changed hands in a direct deal at RM1.05 apiece.

Only one of the transactions was filed with Bursa Malaysia — Datuk Wira Rahamadan Mahmud Mohd Khalil’s acquisition of the 13 million share block. He is now a substantial shareholder with 21.4 million shares or a 6.43% stake in Magna Prima.

The Media Shoppe Bhd (fundamental: 1.65; valuation: 0.90) saw some 14.04 million shares, or a 3.23% stake,  cross off market over 30 transactions. Almost all the transactions took place on Aug 26 and 27. The shares changed hands at between 14 sen and 15.5 sen in relatively small blocks, each no larger than 500,000 shares.

Interestingly, the off-market transactions coincided with a surge in trading activity of Media Shoppe’s shares on the open market, which saw trading volumes exceed 100 million shares on Aug 26 and 27. However, it did not trigger an unusual market activity (UMA) query. Recall that Media Shoppe was subject to a UMA query on Aug 19.

Note that the newly emerged major shareholders and directors — Datuk Low Liong Kian and Tan Tzu Pin, through their vehicle Master Knowledge Sdn Bhd — on Aug 25 acquired some 28 million shares on the open market, representing a 6.44% stake, bringing their total holdings to 27.66%.

Another 8.15 million Media Shoppe CW-17 warrants were transacted off market during the same period.

Barakah Offshore Petroleum Bhd (fundamental: 1.95; valuation: 0.60) saw 9.7 million shares change hands off market in a single transaction on Aug 28 for RM8.25 million. This represents a 1.18% stake in the company. The transaction price of 85 sen each was 1.7% below the 86.5 sen the stock fetched on the open market at the time and  a 2.9% discount to the 87.5 sen closing price that day.

Note: The Edge Research’s fundamental score reflects a company’s profitability and balance sheet strength, calculated based on historical numbers. The valuation score determines if a stock is attractively valued or not, also based on historical numbers. A score of 3 suggests strong fundamentals and attractive valuations. Visit www.theedgemarkets.com for more details on a company’s financial dashboard.

This article first appeared in Capital, digitaledge Weekly, on September 7 - 13, 2015.