PROPERTY DEVELOPER Ong Kah Hoe recently emerged as the largest shareholder in Takaso Resources Bhd, a manufacturer and exporter of condoms and baby care accessories.

Ong owns 35% of property development company OCR Land Holdings Sdn Bhd (previously known as Ong Chong Realty Sdn Bhd), which surfaced as a substantial shareholder with 12.5 million shares or a 6.3% stake on Dec 17.

He already owned a collective (direct and indirect) interest of 14.8% in Takaso in November and to date has accumulated about 20.9% equity interest in the company. Note that Takaso acquired Dynavance Construction Sdn Bhd for RM9.5 million cash.

Ong was a 15% shareholder of Dynavance, the construction arm of OCR.

What Ong and OCR plan to do with Takaso is anyone’s guess, though it is worth noting that the 40-year-old was appointed non-independent, non-executive director of the latter in mid-November.  

Other shareholders of OCR include Dr Ong Kim Chong @ Ong Hwee Choo with a 35% stake, Tan Poo Yot @ Tan Poh Yoke (15%), Ong Kah Wee (10%) and Ong Yew Ming (5%).

Ong, Kah Wee and Yew Ming could be siblings as their address is the same.  

There was another shareholding change in Takaso as well, with Yap Hoong Chai surfacing as a substantial shareholder with 10 million shares or almost 5.1% equity interest on Dec 8 via a private placement. Yap owns 44.3% of poultry company Lay Hong Bhd. Whether Yap and Ong will act together on forging Takaso’s fortunes is not known as well.

“There was talk sometime back that Takaso was a reverse takeover target of Setiakon (Setiakon Builders Sdn Bhd), but this didn’t materialise. Maybe now, a deal with OCR may pan out, but no one knows what’s going on,” a market watcher says.

Rumours of Setiakon taking up the reins of Takaso resulted in the company’s stock surging more than 160% from early August to October this year and hitting a multi-year high of 65.5 sen.

Since then, however, there have been several changes in Takaso’s shareholding, including Chin Boon Leong, who had surfaced in the company in November 2013, ceasing to be a substantial shareholder in mid-August.

It is worth noting that OCR has surfaced in other listed companies as well. It ceased to be a substantial shareholder in tilemaker Seacera Group Bhd in May this year after selling five million shares or about a 2.7% stake in the company.

OCR had bought into Seacera in April 2012, acquiring 3.2 million shares or 5.5% equity interest when the stock was trading at 40 sen each while Ong had acquired 1.5 million shares or 2.6% direct interest. OCR increased its holding in Seacera to 5.6 million shares but exited it in May when its share price more than doubled to above 80 sen.

Seacera had proposed to diversify into property development and construction to improve its prospects. In fact, Seacera Land Sdn Bhd was looking to acquire 15.2ha in Melaka from private company Sri Alai Sdn Bhd and had plans for an ecotourism project. Also, Seacera disposed of 49% of its interest in Seacera Land to OCR for RM20 million cash.

However, checks on the Bursa Malaysia website reveal that there are no board members in Seacera from OCR, which could indicate that the former was merely an investment while there are more plans for Takaso.

In its financial year ended June 30, 2013, OCR posted a net profit of RM1.9 million from RM67.9 million in revenue. As at end-June last year, it had total assets of RM97.3 million while liabilities totalled RM84.1million.

Little is known about OCR as the company has hardly been in the news. From its website, it can be gathered that it commenced property development in 2001, launching 51 townhouses, called Dahlia Villa Townhouses, in the vicinity of Bandar Utama.

Its other notable developments include Casa Utama Townhouses and Beverly Residence in BU11, Bandar Utama, and Eastwood Terrace in Petaling Jaya.

Its website also indicates that OCR has half a dozen or so new launches and about 10 upcoming projects.

Takaso, meanwhile, has not posted profits since 2001 and its current financial year has not started out well. In its first quarter ended Oct 31, FY2015, it suffered a net loss of RM413,000 from RM10.9 million in revenue.

As at end-October, Takaso had a net asset value per share of 24 sen and was in net cash position of RM3 million. Its operating cash flow was a negative RM2.9 million.

Takaso has three parcels of land and buildings in Ledang, Johor, valued in excess of RM6 million; industrial and agricultural land in Muar, Johor, valued at more than RM5 million; and a 3½-storey building in Kinrara, Petaling district, valued at RM2 million.

This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly, on December 29, 2014 - January 04, 2015.

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