NOTABLE filings

Between Nov 10 and 14, notable filings of shareholding changes on Bursa Malaysia included the emergence of Creador II LLC as a substantial shareholder of Masterskill Education Group Bhd (MEGB) with a 16.26% stake on Nov 7.

The Brahmal Vasudevan-led private equity fund’s stake is held via its 100%-owned Raphia Ltd, which raised its equity interest to 19.3% or 72.45 million shares after making more purchases on Nov 11 and 19.

The sellers include MEGB’s executive chairman and largest shareholder Siva Kumar Jeyapalan, who sold 10 million shares at 60 sen apiece on Nov 19, cutting his holding to 30.22%. Filings also show that Datin Seri Carline Johnson D’Cruz, the wife of former MEGB CEO Datuk Seri Edmund Santhara, ceased to be a substantial shareholder after disposing of 20 million shares or a 5.32% stake on Nov 6.

Creador is the partner of SMRT Holdings Bhd, whose unit Strategic Ambience Sdn Bhd is conducting due diligence on MEGB after getting an undertaking from Siva Kumar to accept any offer from it for his 32.9% stake in MEGB at 60 sen apiece. If an offer for Siva Kumar’s entire stake is made after the due diligence, Raphia will have to make a mandatory general offer for the rest of MEGB, according to a Nov 10 statement.

Over at Jiankun International Bhd, filings show that Datuk Azizan Abdul Rahman ceased to be a substantial shareholder of the property developer, which was formerly known as Nagamas International Bhd, after disposing of four million shares or a 7.86% stake on Nov 10.

The buyer is likely FS Motorsports Sdn Bhd, which bought the same number of shares on that day. FS Motorsports’ owner Foong Kah Heng also acquired 2.51 million shares or a 4.93% direct stake in Jiankun, bringing his total holding to 12.8%. Jiankun recently proposed a two-for-one rights issue at 25 sen apiece with free warrants on a three-for-four basis at 32 sen each.

Meanwhile, Ni Hsin Resources Bhd saw its chairman and a member of its founding family, Hsiao Chih Jen, sell 11.83 million shares or a 5.12% stake at 34 sen each on Nov 10. The disposal left him with a 5.54% stake. The Hsiao family is believed to be relinquishing control of Ni Hsin to investors even as managers from Ideal Jacobs Corp Bhd join its board.

Notable movements

The share price of Berjaya Auto Bhd, an assembler and distributor of Mazda cars in Malaysia and the Philippines, has rallied strongly this year, gaining over 100% year to date. It closed at RM3.38 last Thursday. The stock had ended at RM3.69 on Nov 3, skyrocketing from its listing price of 70 sen apiece on Nov 15, 2013.

The strong gains prompted some profit-taking in the stock. Filings show that Berjaya Group Bhd disposed of 51 million shares or a 6.3% stake in Berjaya Auto between Nov 7 and 11 in direct deals. This reduced its holding to 356.88 million shares or a 44.16% stake as at Nov 11.

At DGB Asia Bhd, filings show that Satvinder Singh ceased to be a substantial shareholder after selling his entire 8.5 million shares or a 5.2% stake in the company on Nov 7.

Singh first emerged as a substantial shareholder in DGB barely three weeks ago on Oct 20 with a 5.21% stake or 8.5 million shares after acquiring 4.5 million shares on the open market. DGB Asia closed at 15 sen on Oct 20 and Nov 7, but it has actually risen 50% since Singh exited on Nov 7, if measured against its 10 sen close on Aug 1.

According to Bloomberg data, DGB’s largest shareholders are Datuk Dr Pang Chow Huat and Chua Yoke Peng with only a 3.68% stake. DGB makes automated identification and data capture solutions that are used for inventory management and industrial operations. At the time of writing, The Edge Research sees DGB as highly volatile based on its share price movement relative to the broader market, giving it the highest score of “5” in terms of risk.

This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly, on November 24-30, 2014.

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