KUALA LUMPUR: Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary’s MMC Corp Bhd announced that it had acquired a 15.73% stake in port operator NCB Holdings Bhd from MISC Bhd for RM221.98 million cash.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, the group said its wholly-owned subsidiary MMC Ventures Sdn Bhd had entered into an agreement for the sale and purchase of shares with MISC yesterday for some 73.99 million shares in NCB.

The shares were acquired via an off-market direct business transaction executed on the same date, it said.

MMC said the acquisition was to make “further strategic investment” in its core business of ports and logistics to strengthen the group’s financial position. The group said the acquisition is expected to contribute positively to its future earnings.

The announcement confirmed a report by The Edge Financial Daily on Tuesday, quoting sources, that the group was in talks with MISC to buy the latter’s stake.

The daily reported that NCB might be used as a listed vehicle for the backdoor listing of Syed Mokhtar’s port business. He has Port of Tanjung Pelepas (PTP) in southern Johor and Penang Port under his belt. PTP is a joint venture between MMC (70%) and APM Terminals (30%).

NCB, headquartered in Port Klang, was incorporated in 1999, with its principal activities in investment holding and the provision of management of services to its subsidiaries. NCB’s main assets are Northport (M) Bhd and ailing haulage company Kontena Nasional Bhd (KNB).

Meanwhile, in a separate announcement, MISC said its stake disposal to MMC was in line with its initiatives to divest/exit its non-core and non-energy related businesses and investments, such as liner shipping and integrated logistics.

It said the purchase price was arrived at on a “willing buyer-willing seller” basis, and that the disposal is not expected to have any material effect on its consolidated earnings and net assets for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2014.

MMC closed yesterday unchanged at RM2.35, with a market capitalisation of RM7.16 billion. NCB went up 13 sen to close at RM2.63, giving it a market cap of RM1.24 billion. MISC ended one sen lower to RM7.44, giving it a market cap of RM33.21 billion.

This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on November 28, 2014.