Media tycoon Tiong Hiew King's takeover of Nanyang Press Holdings may still go through as there is no other buyer brazen enough to take up MCA's offer of a 51 percent stake in the publishing company.

"It is quite unlikely that there will be other buyers interested in Nanyang. The deal is just not lucrative enough," said a top MCA leader today who declined to be named.

Besides that, the proposed deal is shrouded in secrecy, he told malaysiakini .

"The details of the deal are quite mysterious and I doubt if the other leaders of the party are actually aware of the details. The people who are really aware of what's happening are party president Dr Ling Liong Sik, his vice-president Ong Ka Ting and Tiong himself," he added.

MCA had earlier announced that it was looking at potential buyers for a major stake in Nanyang, which publishes Nanyang Siang Pau and China Press . It said those shortlisted would be revealed at the end of the year.

Yesterday, the party's investment arm, Huaren Holdings, denied an AFX-Asia report that said MCA had found a buyer in an unnamed company nominated by Tiong.

It called on the foreign news agency to withdraw the report which appeared on Monday.

No monopoly

Meanwhile, Ngan Ching Wen, the chairperson of the Committee Against the Takeover by MCA, remained sceptical of Huaren's denial.

"In Malaysia, rumours sometimes become true, Huaren might have said that it would not be selling to Tiong now but that doesn't mean it won't happen in the future," he said.

Tiong has business interests all over the world ranging from newspaper companies in Cambodia, Hong Kong, Papua New Guinea and Canada, and logging concerns in Sarawak, South Pacific islands, Brazil and Russia.

He owns Nanyang 's rival, Sin Chew Jit Poh , and its sister publication Guang Ming Daily .

In another development, the Nanyang branch of the National Union of Journalists maintained its stance that the Chinese press should not be monopolised by a single consortium.

"The Nanyang NUJ would like to remind Huaren about its responsibility to ensure that Nanyang will be owned by an independent party. If not, NUJ Nanyang believes, MCA would have to bear the consequences," the statement read.

Huaren needs to sell some of its stake because Nanyang has some RM100 million worth of short-term loans to be sorted out soon.

"Huaren needs to find a buyer or buyers to absorb the loan or it will be heavily burdened," The Sun quoted an insider in a report today.

The company's takeover of the paper last May created a flurry of criticism from activists and the Chinese community who believed that move sounded the death knell of a free Chinese press.

It also led to a major rift between MCA president Dr Ling Liong Sik and his deputy Lim Ah Lek who was fervently against the takeover.