The 25 percent of Nanyang Press Holdings Bhd shares placed out last month has been acquired by low-profile businessman Mah King Hock, said a report today.

Financial news agency Bloomberg.com said following the transaction, Mah is now the second largest shareholder in the Chinese-language newspaper publishing group.

The biggest shareholder is Huaren Management Sdn Bhd, MCA's investment arm, which now holds a 47.58 percent stake in the company.

Mah is the chairperson of Sydney-based developer Equity & Property Investment Corp, which owns the Swiss Grand Hotel in Bondi Beach, Australia.

The report said Mah acquired the 14,735,000 shares, or 25.17 percent, for RM82 million at RM5.60 each.

The transaction was done on July 19 and the announcement was made on the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange last Friday.

This stake is believed to be the same exact amount of shares placed out through PB Securities Sdn Bhd on July 18, a day before Mah bought his stake.

Suspended from trading

Nanyang was suspended from trading since Aug last year until it complied with the 25 percent public shareholding requirement in June.

It was later allowed to resume trading after divesting a sizable portion of its Nanyang stake but civil groups questioned the identity of the buyer or buyers of the shares.

Late last month, MCA president Dr Ling Liong Sik said that Kurnia Insurance Bhd, a local company which specialises in motor insurance, had also a five percent stake in Nanyang.

However, this was neither confirmed nor denied by the Kuala Lumpur Stock Exchange and Kurnia.

MCA acquired Nanyang last May in a controversial RM230 million deal despite strong objections from the Chinese community who feared the dailies' editorial independence would erode if they had political paymasters.

The party also owns 44 percent of Star Publications Bhd, the publisher of the best-selling English daily in the country The Star .