A prominent feature of Corporate Malaysia this year has been the resurrection of personalities linked to the country’s go-go years of the 1990s, such as Tan Sri Halim Saad and Tan Sri Robert Tan Hua Choon. Halim, a protégé of Tun Daim Zainuddin, and Tan, a close associate of the former finance minister, were in the limelight because of the penny stock rally earlier this year.

Frenzied trading in penny stocks helped boost trading volume on Bursa Malaysia to a record high of 7.7 billion shares on Aug 20 and 5.1 billion shares the day before. PDZ Holdings Bhd, Sumatec Resources Bhd, Marco Holdings Bhd (one of Tan’s companies) and other penny stocks accounted for about half the trading volume on Aug 20 — something not seen since the early 1990s. - by Jose Barrock

Tan Sri Robert Tan Hua Choon
Chairman, Jasa Kita Bhd

It is no exaggeration that Tan was the king of deals this year. The business tycoon sold his stake in Malaysia Aica Bhd at 85 sen per share when the stock had hardly traded above 50 sen since 2011. A few months later, he found a buyer in Pelabuhan Mara Bhd for his 26.8% stake in PDZ Bhd at 18 sen after the latter rallied more than 200%.

Tan also wanted to hive off his equity interest in Goh Ban Huat (GBH) — the loss-making ceramics maker of which he had gained control five years ago — but his plan fell through. However, GBH sold a prime 13.8-acre parcel in Jalan Segambut on which its plant is located to Kedah-based Keladi Maju Bhd for RM192.4 million cash. Tan holds a 16.8% stake in Keladi Maju.

The purchase grants Keladi Maju instant entry into a much sought-after area in Kuala Lumpur. Note that FCW Holdings Bhd, in which Tan holds 25.5% equity interest, owns a few parcels next to Keladi Maju’s newly acquired land. Indeed, FCW had bought the parcels from GBH in 2007.

Those familiar with Tan say he is not done with selling out of his companies. It would be interesting to watch his plan for the cash-rich but unprofitable GBH.

The other listed companies in his his portfolio are Marco Holdings, Jasa Kita and GPA Holdings Bhd.

Yeoh Jin Hoe and Anthony See
Shareholders of Kian Joo Can Factory Bhd

Yeoh, who helms Kian Joo Can Factory Bhd and who is also the single largest shareholder of Can-One Bhd, and Anthony See (picture), a former controlling shareholder of Kian Joo, continued to be embroiled in a feud this year.

To recap, Aspire Insight Sdn Bhd, a company controlled by the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) and Freddy Chee Khay Leong, had launched a takeover bid for Kian Joo with an offer of almost RM1.5 billion or RM3.30 per share in December last year.

As Kian Joo’s substantial shareholder, See considered the offer unattractive and alleged that Chee had previously worked with Yeoh for many years and that the two were related parties acting in concert. Thus, he contended that Yeoh and Can-One should not be allowed to vote on the sale of Kian Joo’s assets and liabilities to Aspire Insight.

Last month, the High Court struck out See’s suit, which means that the acquisition of Kian Joo by Aspire Insight — with the support of Can-One’s 32.9% stake in Kian Joo — will likely be completed. The EPF owns about 10% of Kian Joo and thus will not be able to vote on the acquisition.

See has been in a courtroom battle with Yeoh since the day the latter gained control of Kian Joo, which was founded by the See family. Will See make another move to stop Kian Joo from selling its core business?

Tan Sri Halim Saad
Controlling shareholder, Sumatec Resources Bhd

Halim’s oil and gas assets, which are thousands of kilometres away in Kazakhstan, have stirred much interest on Bursa Malaysia.

Sumatec, which has the rights to develop the oilfields, has certainly been one of the most traded counters this year. It consistently made it to the top 10 actively traded list on most days and its share price more than doubled to 61 sen in August.

Note that Sumatec was a penny stock trading at around 10 sen before the rally started in mid-2013. However, it has shed close to 70% of its value since August and closed at 18 sen on Dec 16.

Other than Sumatec, Megalink Sdn Bhd, another supposedly Halim-linked private company, has been in talks to buy a 14.7% stake in PDZ from Pelaburan Mara Bhd.

Halim and his cohorts might also surface in oil and gas company CN Asia Corp Bhd via a private placement.

CN Asia’s stock gained traction in March this year and surged almost 120% to a multi-year high of RM1.56 in early July but has since dipped more than 40%. It closed at 18 sen on Dec 16.

Elsewhere, another company previously linked to Daim — Protasco Bhd — was thrust into the limelight.

Tey Por Yee and Ooi Kock Aun
Shareholders of Protasco Bhd

Protasco directors Tey (left) and Ooi were removed by shareholders at an EGM late last month. The duo, in turn, failed in their bid to remove Protasco vice-chairman and managing director Datuk Seri Chong Ket Pen in an EGM held a day later, on Nov 30.

Tey and Ooi gained a foothold in Protasco when their vehicle, Kingdom Seekers Ventures Sdn Bhd, acquired 27.1% in Protasco at end-November 2012. Ooi was appointed to the board in December 2012 and Tey in March this year.

The in-fighting in Protasco came about in September, six months after Tey’s appointment. Protasco had filed a suit against PT Anglo Slavic Utama (PT ASU) to recover US$27 million (RM90.5 million), which it had paid for an Indonesia-based oil and gas outfit.

Tey and Ooi were alleged to have failed to disclose their beneficial interest in PT ASU, causing Protasco to shelve its plan to buy a 63% stake in the company.

Meanwhile, Tey filed a suit against six directors of RS Maha Niaga Sdn Bhd, including Chong, to recover RM10 million for Protasco. He claimed that an acquisition by Protasco had been made through two layers of companies and a RM10 million cheque was drawn and delivered to RS Maha Niaga.

Both legal suits are pending.

Protasco hit a multi-year high of RM2.07 in late June. However, it has since slipped more than 37% to RM1.30, its lowest in almost a year.

This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly, on 22 - 28 December 2014.

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