KUALA LUMPUR (July 6): Pentamaster Corp Bhd chief executive officer (CEO) Chuah Chong Ewe bought 3.997 million shares, or a 2.99% equity stake in the company from Tan Boon Teik, a director of major subsidiary of Pentamaster through off-market trade at 72 sen apiece.

In a filing to the Bursa Malaysia today, Pentamaster said that Chuah acquired the bulk of shares through off-market trade. Upon acquisition of the shares, he currently own 6.66 million shares representing 4.99% in the company.

The acquisition represents 2.99% of the total issued and paid up capital of RM66.62 million divided into 133.24 million ordinary shares of 50 sen each.

In a separate announcement, Tan who sold the bulk of share to Chuah today will ceased to be the substantial shareholder of Pentamaster (fundamental: 2.1; valuation: 0.5) upon the completion of the disposal.

After the disposal, Tan directly owned 4.29 million shares representing 3.22% equity and indirectly held 44,250 shares or a 0.03% stake in the company.

Tan, 51, was the CEO of the company until Feb 16, according to Pentamaster's website.

The company is involved in designing, developing and manufacturing standard and non-standard automated equipment for the semiconductor industry.

Pentamaster share price has doubled since the beginning of the year. The stock has climbed from 37.5 sen in early July to a high of 79 sen on July 2. The stock closed at 74 sen today, giving it a market capitalisation of RM101.93 million.

(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.)