This article first appeared in Capital, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on August 28, 2023 - September 3, 2023

For the week of Aug 14 to 18, notable changes in shareholding at companies listed on Bursa Malaysia included those at Impiana Hotels Bhd, which saw Datuk Seri Lee Hock Seng and his spouse Datin Seri Joanne Yew Hong Im emerge as its single largest shareholder after acquiring 120.8 million shares, or a 19.9% stake, in the hospitality company on Aug 11.

Lee is currently chairman of HYM Group, which owns and operates the WOLO Kuala Lumpur Hotel and Gold3 Boutique Hotel in Jalan Bukit Bintang, Kuala Lumpur.

An Aug 14 bourse filing shows that the acquisition of shares was done via a direct business transaction. It is understood that the couple bought the stake in Impiana from Advance Opportunities Fund and Advance Opportunities Fund I, which ceased to be the group’s substantial shareholders after offloading 65 million shares (10.71% stake) and 45 million shares (7.41%) respectively.

The transacted price was not disclosed, but the counter closed at seven sen per share on Aug 11. The acquisition would see the couple forking out some RM8.46 million in cash. Shares in Impiana Hotel closed at nine sen apiece last Wednesday, giving it a market capitalisation of RM54.63 million.

Meanwhile, at Handal Energy Bhd, its managing director ceased to be a substantial shareholder of the oil and gas (O&G) services provider on Aug 16.

A stock exchange filing shows that Sunildeep Dhaliwal had been disposing of his stake in Handal since Aug 9, starting with 6.99 million shares, which pared down his stake to 4.05%. He then sold his remaining 10.8 million shares in the company on Aug 16 on the open market.

On Aug 9, Handal also saw its single largest shareholder Seaoffshore Capital Sdn Bhd cease to be a substantial shareholder after it sold 46.46 million shares, or a 17.4% stake, on the open market.

This follows the emergence of Singapore-based Deepetro Offshore Brokers Pte Ltd as a new substantial shareholder in Handal on Aug 2, following its acquisition of shares on the open market and the conversion of irredeemable convertible preference shares into ordinary shares.

At that time, Deepetro owned 30.46 million shares or an 11.42% stake in Handal. However, less than a week later, on Aug 9, Deepetro sold almost all of its 30.2 million shares in Handal and ceased to be a substantial shareholder.

Handal has been loss-making since its financial year ended June 30, 2016, up to its latest financial year ended Dec 31, 2022. In June, it announced a plan to diversify into the telecommunications network infrastructure solutions and marine sand segments.

Handal’s share price gained almost 55% to a high of 27 sen on Aug 9 from 17.5 sen on Aug 2. However, the gain was short-lived as its share price plunged to 13 sen last Wednesday.

Over at Vinvest Capital Holdings Bhd, EA Holdings Bhd ceased to be a substantial shareholder of the communication infrastructure developer after disposing of 62.65 million shares or a 6.46% stake on Aug 15. It did not disclose the transacted price.

It is worth noting that Vinvest is suing EA Holdings and a stock market analyst on an allegation of losing 17.82% stake in the latter. Vinvest’s share subscription in EA Holdings back in November 2021 was aimed at opening more opportunities for both companies to collaborate.

Having held the shares for more than a year, Vinvest noticed that all its EA Holdings shares had been sold on the open market via its TA Securities central depository system (CDS) account between June 23 and July 11. The selling price was half a sen per share, or a total sum of RM5.486 million, a huge discount compared with the acquisition sum of RM23.21 million back then.

This has prompted Vinvest to take legal action against EA Holdings over the matter, including “urgently applying for the necessary prohibitory injunctive orders to stop further derogation of the company’s rights over those shares”. Vinvest has been granted an interim injunction by the High Court against EA Holdings.

Ramssol Group Bhd has been an actively traded counter of late, seeing its share price surge more than 33% to 44 sen last Wednesday from 33 sen on Aug 14.

This came after Top Glove Corp Bhd founder and executive chairman Tan Sri Lim Wee Chai emerged as a substantial shareholder of Ramssol after raising his stake in the human resources solutions provider to 7.46% on Aug 17.

A filing with Bursa Malaysia on Aug 21 shows that Lim bought 14 million shares via a direct business transaction, but did not disclose the transacted price. It is understood that Lim bought the stake from Ramssol’s founder Lee Miew Lan.

In a separate filing, Lee pared down her stake to 25.79 million shares or 10.5% after selling her 14 million shares in Ramssol.

Shares in Inari Amertron Bhd have gained almost 12% over the last two months, despite the weakness in the technology sector.

Its share price hit a one-year high of RM3.15 apiece on Aug 15 before paring some gains to close at RM3.05 last Wednesday, giving the electronics manufacturing services provider a market capitalisation of RM11.39 billion.

The Employees Provident Fund disposed of a total of 7.98 million shares in Inari from Aug 3 to 15, leaving the retirement fund with a 10.1% stake.

While there are 11 analysts suggesting a “buy” call on Inari and nine recommending a “hold”, most remain cautious about the short-term outlook for the company on expectations that the industry’s lacklustre smartphone shipments would continue. However, they are optimistic about its long-term prospects. 

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