Ling says he does not know who bought Nanyang shares
MCA president Dr Ling Liong Sik said today that the party has no information on the buyer [or buyers] of the Nanyang Press Holdings shares disposed by the party's investment arm Huaren Management since May.
"I have talked to Huaren and they said they really don't know because the shares were sold by placement," he told reporters after chairing a two-hour presidential council meeting at the party headquarters this evening.
"As you know, the performance of Nanyang Press is very, very good. It is making a lot of money and therefore people are interested in buying the shares," added Ling, who is also a trustee of Huaren Holdings Berhad, the parent group to Huaren Management.
Asked for details, he hinted there was more than one buyer.
"There are so many buyers, how do you expect us to remember all the names?" he said adding that the identities of the buyers did not matter.
"Their names will appear on the register. If you buy more than five percent, you will appear on the register. That's the law," he explained.
The party president said after the recent divestment, Huaren Management owns only 45 percent of shares in Nanyang Press, publisher of two Chinese dailies acquired by MCA last May.
He added Kurnia Insurance Bhd, an insurance company which specialises in motor insurance with a capitalisation of RM200 million and total assets exceeding RM1 billion, owns a five percent stake in Nanyang Press.
Nanyang Press was suspended at RM5.50 per share since Aug 20 last year from the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange after Huaren made a general offer, resulting in it owning over 93.2 percent of Nanyang Press shares.
It subsequently sold a 17.59 percent stake through Rashid Hussain Securities Sdn Bhd to undisclosed party [or parties] in May and subsequently resumed trading in June.
Last week, Huaren Management reportedly sold another 23.8 percent stake through PB Securities Sdn Bhd to undisclosed buyers.
Secretive manner
Yesterday, a civil group set up to oppose MCA's acquisition of Nanyang Press raised concern over the secretive manner in which the shares of the company were divested.
The group known as the Committee Against Takeover of Nanyang Press (CAT) by MCA had urged the Securities Commission to investigate if there was any breach of law in the shares transactions.
Asked if Huaren plans to divest any more Nanyang Press shares after this, Ling said he had not been informed about this by the company.
"They (Huaren) are very comfortable with the 45 percent now which is only about RM150 million [of the RM317 million loan borrowed earlier]. The interest rate is something that Huaren will be comfortable to service," he said.
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