KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 18): Berjaya Corp Bhd (KL:BJCORP), or BCorp, said it has sold 32 million shares or 4.14% equity stake in REDtone Digital Bhd (KL:REDTONE) on Monday, for RM29.76 million in cash.
BCorp said the block of shares was sold by its wholly owned subsidiary Juara Sejati Sdn Bhd (JSSB) via a direct business transaction. The transaction price was 93 sen per REDtone share.
Based on the carrying amount of 69 sen per REDtone share on BCorp’s book as of Oct 31, the group will book a gain of RM7.68 million on the disposal, which will be reflected in BCorp’s equity position.
Post disposal, BCorp’s deemed interests in REDtone will be reduced to 35.41% — with a 34.44% stake or 273.68 million REDtone shares held via JSSB, and 7.46 million shares or 0.96% held via affiliated Berjaya Land Bhd (KL:BJLAND).
BCorp owns 73.55% equity stake in Berjaya Land.
The King, Sultan Ibrahim Sultan Iskandar, owns 17.34% or 134 million shares in REDtone. His daughter Tunku Tun Aminah Sultan Ibrahim Ismail is currently non-independent non-executive chairman of both BCorp and REDtone.
BCorp’s founder Tan Sri Vincent Tan Chee Yioun and Sultan Ibrahim are major shareholders of unlisted mobile network operator U Mobile Sdn Bhd, which recently won Malaysia’s second 5G network award.
In a past interview with The Edge, REDtone said it has been working together with U Mobile in the managed telecommunications network services (MTNS) business, which involves building, maintaining and operating large-scale telecoms engineering projects, base stations and fibre infrastructure works.
It is worth noting that REDtone also owns 5.49 million shares or 4.93% equity stake in HeiTech Padu Bhd (KL:HTPADU) — the winner of RM892.2 million National Integrated Immigration System (NIISe) project.
Shares in REDtone closed unchanged at 97.5 sen on Monday, giving it a market capitalisation of RM762.89 million. Year-to-date, the stock has risen 39.3%.
BCrop’s shares, meanwhile, settled 0.5 sen or 1.6% lower at 31.5 sen, giving it a market capitalisation of RM1.88 billion. The stock has risen 8.6% for the year.