KLSE yet to decide on Nanyangs request for extension

comments     Yap Mun Ching     Published     Updated

More than two weeks after Nanyang Press Holdings Bhd sought for more time to comply with a 25 percent public shareholding requirement, the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange has yet to decide on the application. The four-month extension sought by Nanyang was submitted a week before the original Feb 20 deadline set by the KLSE for major shareholder Huaren Holdings to reduce its 92.14 percent stake in the company.

In a general announcement on Feb 11, Nanyang gave no reason as to why it wanted the extension. If KLSE does not approve the extension, Nanyang, which has been a public listed company since November 1988, may face the fate of being de-listed.

When contacted, the KLSE confirmed that it has received the application which is now being processed.

It (the approval) depends on the full confirmation of the facts that have been given, said a KLSE official, adding that there was no specific time frame for the approval process.

When an application is submitted, it goes through various stages of evaluation, the official added.

Nanyang shares had been suspended since Aug 20 last year from trading. The company was given a six-month period to comply with the KLSE to retain its public listed status.

According to the main board listing requirements, Nanyang, with a paid-up capital of RM61.9 million, would also have to spread the 25 percent stake among at least 1,000 members, each limited to five percent stake.

Informed sources told malaysiakini that Nanyang has some 990 public shareholders, a sum which falls short of the KLSE requirement.

However, when asked, KLSE refused to comment on the matter.

Negative public sentiments

Last year, it was rumoured that Sarawakian timber tycoon Tiong Hiew King was interested in taking over a major stake of Nanyang from the cash-strapped Huaren.

MCA, which took a huge loan to finance the takeover, was eager to off-load much of its Nanyang stake as it was hard-pressed to meet the interest payments of the loan.

MCA also had to contend with strong opposition towards the takeover from the Chinese Malaysian community and civil groups who fear an eventual monopoly of the Chinese press market by Tiong, owner of Nanyangs rival media group Pemandangan Sinar which publishes Sin Chew Jit Poh and Guang Ming Daily .

Political observers believe that the four-month extension is to avoid stirring up negative public sentiments as this could prove detrimental to certain MCA leaders in the forthcoming party elections.

The party elections are scheduled to start at branch level at the end of this month, followed by division in April, state May and central leadership June.



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