KUALA LUMPUR (Jan 20): Berjaya Corp Bhd (BCorp) founder and major shareholder Tan Sri Vincent Tan Chee Yioun has pared his stake in the group to 21.317%, inching closer to his target of 19.600% by end-January.
Over the past two weeks, Tan has offloaded 132 million shares, which slashed his direct shareholding to 436.27 million shares or a direct equity interest of 7.814%.
Meanwhile, his indirect shareholding dropped to 753.96 million shares (13.503%) after 1.6 million shares registered under Cimsec Nominees (Tempatan) Sdn Bhd were disposed of.
Bourse filings by the diversified group show that Tan trimmed his direct shareholding by disposing of 80 million shares on Jan 11, followed by another 32 million on Jan 17, and most recently 20 million on Jan 19.
The 1.6 million shares under Cimsec Nominees had been disposed of in five blocks from Jan 10 to 18.
Prior to the slew of transactions, Tan’s direct shareholding stood at 568.27 million shares (10.178% stake), while his indirect shareholding was at 755.56 million shares (13.532% stake).
Earlier this month, BCorp confirmed that it is in the midst of negotiations for the proposed acquisition of a controlling stake in MCIS Insurance Bhd (MCIS Life).
This confirmed a report by The Edge that the group was in talks with Sanlam Ltd to purchase the South African-based company’s 51% stake in MCIS Life. Koperasi MCIS Bhd holds another 44.39% equity interest in MCIS Life, while the remaining share is held by individuals.
BCorp initially shared its intent to pursue the acquisition of a licensed financial entity in Dec 2022, saying that towards facilitating the acquisition, Tan intended to pare his shareholding in the group to not more than 19.6% by end-January.
This is towards complying with Section 92 of the Financial Services Act 2013, which states that individuals shall hold no more than a 10% stake in a financial institution.
BCorp is already involved in the financial services business through the provision of insurance via its 30%-owned Berjaya Sompo Insurance Bhd. The remaining 70% stake is held by Sompo Holdings (Asia) Pte Ltd. BCorp also owns a stockbroking arm, Inter-Pacific Securities Sdn Bhd.
Shares in BCorp ended half a sen or 1.52% higher at 33.5 sen on Friday (Jan 20), giving the group a market capitalisation of RM1.97 billion.