KUALA LUMPUR (Aug 20): Public Gold Group (PG Group) founder Datuk Wira Louis Ng Chun Hau has emerged as a substantial shareholder in ManagePay Systems Bhd, which the latter said could pave the way for future collaborations between the precious metals distributor and the listed fintech outfit.

Ng, who is also executive chairman of listed manufacturer Caely Holdings Bhd, subscribed for 44 million MPay shares on August 18, which amounted to a 5.3% stake, MPay said in a statement.

“The move to become one of MPay’s substantial shareholders marked the beginning of a strategic collaboration between MPay and PG Group that focuses on consolidating both companies’ strengths in bringing innovative offerings to the market,” it said.

The collaboration in plans foresees the launch of a “Digital Gold” project as a form of new investment asset class by leveraging PG Group’s gold-related business arms. The latter has some 500,000 registered customers in Malaysia, Singapore, Brunei and Indonesia, it said.

“The collaboration is also expected to open doors to the internal market through cross border e-commerce, specifically in introducing Malaysian products on May’s B2B2C e-commerce platform, BuyMalaysia.com to the China market via PG Group’s, PG Mall collaboration with China-based eCommerce platform, JD.com (JD WorldWide) in a tripartite joint effort,” MPay added.

Shares of MPay closed unchanged at 25.5 sen, valuing the group at RM214.55 million.