This article first appeared in Capital, The Edge Malaysia Weekly, on February 15 - 21, 2016.

FROM Feb 3 to 5, some 333 million shares worth RM397 million were transacted off market in blocks of at least 450,000 shares. 

ML Global Bhd saw 1.03 million shares, or 1.15% equity interest, transacted off market in direct deals at 50 sen each.

It is likely that the shares were disposed of by Distinct Treasures Sdn Bhd, which sold seven million ML Global shares, or a 7.81% stake, to LBS Bina Group Bhd on Feb 2 at 50 sen apiece, reducing its stake in the former to 1.03 million shares.

LBS Bina owned 31.95% equity interest in ML Global as at Feb 2. With the recent acquisition, LBS Bina’s stake in ML Global should have surpassed Datuk Beh Hang Kong’s 29.1%.

On April 29, 2014, ML Global and its subsidiaries entered into an agreement with Distinct Treasures for the assignment of all rights, titles, interest and benefit of debts due and payable between the group for RM4.86 million.

As at Aug 28, 2015, ML Global had received RM498,900 in payments from Distinct Treasures for the assigned debts, while the remaining RM4.4 million is expected to be paid by Feb 28 this year. Distinct Treasures’ sale of its stake in ML Global to LBS Bina is valued at about RM4 million.

On Feb 3, PRG Holdings Bhd saw three million shares, or a 2.07% stake, change hands off market in direct deals at between RM1 and RM1.10 per share. At press time, PRG Holdings had issued no updates on the changes in shareholding.

However, PRG Holdings announced that Wang Jing, a Chinese national, acquired 430,000 shares on the open market on Feb 3. He acquired another 191,900 shares on the open market on Feb 4, bringing his stake in PRG Holdings to 5.24%.

Some 24 million shares, or 3.18% equity interest, in Metronic Global Bhd were transacted off market on Feb 3. Metronic had not noted any possible changes in shareholding via off-market transactions on Bursa Malaysia’s website at press time.

On the same day, Tan Kian Hong, a substantial shareholder and an executive director of Metronic, acquired 3.5 million shares at seven sen each on the open market. The acquisition increased Tan’s stake in Metronic to 6.34%.

A total of 980,000 shares, or 0.79% equity interest, in Yen Global Bhd were transacted off market on Feb 3 at 49 sen per share. Yen Global had made no announcements on Bursa’s website on possible changes in shareholding at press time.

On Feb 4, almost 10 million Malayan Banking Bhd shares were transacted off market in a direct deal at RM8.55 per share, making it the largest off-market transaction by value during the period. The price was at a slight discount to Maybank’s closing price of RM8.57 per share that day.

Maybank has not announced any changes in shareholding that took place off market. However, the Employees Provident Fund disposed of 10.53 million and 5.59 million shares through direct deals on Jan 29 and Feb 2.

Pipes, valves, fittings and joints manufacturer Engtex Group Bhd saw two million shares, or a 0.66% stake, worth RM2.44 million trade off market in direct deals on Feb 3. No updates were given by Engtex on any changes in shareholding for the period under review.

From Feb 3 to 5, four cross trades involving a total of seven million shares in 7-Eleven Malaysia Holdings Bhd took place at between RM1.47 and RM1.53 apiece. The shares represent 0.59% of 7-Eleven’s share base.

On Feb 4, one million shares, or a 0.48% stake, in O&C Resources Bhd were transacted off market at 51 sen apiece. The group has not made any announcements on any changes in shareholding on that day.

O&C Resources has entered into a share sale agreement with Lay Hong Bhd for the disposal of the entire issued and paid-up capital of Takaso SC (Thailand) Ltd for RM8.5 million.

Save by subscribing to us for your print and/or digital copy.

P/S: The Edge is also available on Apple's AppStore and Androids' Google Play.