This article first appeared in Capital, The Edge Malaysia Weekly, on March 7 - 13, 2016.

Between Feb 24 and March 1, as much as 904.58 million shares worth RM1.44 billion were traded off market in blocks of at least 500,000 each.

Datuk Tey Por Yee ceased to be a substantial shareholder in Ire-Tex Corp Bhd on Feb 24. On March 2, Ire-Tex announced to Bursa Malaysia that Tey had disposed of 30.6 million shares through a direct off-market deal on Feb 24 at an undisclosed price. The shares made up 23% of Ire-Tex’s share base.

The buyer has not been identified and the reason for Tey’s exit from Ire-Tex has also not been stated.

He has been in the limelight over the past year, having taken Protasco Bhd’s major shareholder Datuk Seri Chong Ket Pen to court over Protasco’s investment in oil and gas fields in Indonesia that failed to materialise due to technical issues.

In the last week of February, large blocks of shares of counters linked to Tey were traded off market through direct deals. Besides Ire-Tex, Asdion Bhd, in which Tey has 21.34% equity interest, saw the same percentage of shares traded off market on Feb 25.

As at March 2, Asdion had not announced any changes in shareholding to Bursa Malaysia. According to Bloomberg data, the stake was transacted at 27 sen for a total of RM6.7 million.

At Flonic Hi-Tec Bhd, 160 million shares or 20% was transacted off market on March 1 at five sen per share, according to Bloomberg data. The precision cleaning company has not announced any changes in shareholding to Bursa Malaysia.

On Feb 26, Flonic announced that substantial shareholder and director Datuk Chua Wye Man intended to deal in the company’s securities during the closed period pending the announcement of the company’s financial results. Chua had 15.34% stake in Flonic, according to the announcement.

Over at Mazda car assembler Berjaya Auto Bhd, ultimate shareholder Tan Sri Vincent Tan sold some 56.55 million shares or a 4.94% stake through direct deals on Feb 26. According to Bloomberg data, the shares were disposed of at RM2.15 apiece.

Once the darling of the investing fraternity due to the high Mazda car sales growth in Malaysia and the Philippines, Berjaya Auto’s share price has taken a beating following the sharp depreciation of the ringgit that has reduced its sales margin.

Berjaya Auto’s share price has fallen 25% from its peak of RM2.87 on May 12, 2015.

Tan also sold seven million shares or a 2.76% stake in Atlan Holdings Bhd at RM4.35 per share on Feb 26 through direct deals. After the disposal, the billionaire held 23.5% of the manager of property investments, hospitality and duty-free shops.

At Saudee Group Bhd, 3.3 million shares or 3.67% of its share base were transacted off market on Feb 24, at 47 sen per share. The loss-making frozen food producer’s largest shareholder is Tan Khang Kim with a 50.6% stake as at Sept 21, 2015.

At agrochemicals company Halex Holdings Bhd, 2.7% of its shares changed hands off market on Feb 29 at 48 sen per share, according to Bloomberg data. The company made no announcements of changes in shareholding.

HCK Capital Group Bhd saw 711.1 million shares or a 1.28% stake transacted off market in direct deals at RM3 per share on March 1, according to Bloomberg data. There were no fillings to the stock exchange on the share transaction at the press time.

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