This article first appeared in The Edge Malaysia Weekly on March 9, 2026 - March 15, 2026

APART from control of the company, the boardroom tussle at NexG Bhd (KL:NEXG) is expected to revolve around a sum of RM303.7 million in expenditure incurred by the company between November 2024 and September 2025.

The money was spent on the acquisition of a cybersecurity services company for RM40 million, the purchase of shares in MMAG Holdings Bhd (KL:MMAG) and NexG Bina Bhd (KL:NEXGBINA) amounting to a total of about RM164.8 million, and the extension of loans totalling RM98.9 million through NexG’s moneylending arm to corporations and individuals.

“The acquisition of the shares in MMAG and NexG Bina are not part of the core business of NexG. Prior to June 2025, the company also had not gone into corporate lending,” says a source.

NexG’s co-founder and executive chairman Datuk Hanifah Noordin, who had departed the company before, returned as deputy executive chairman in August 2024 and was redesignated as executive chairman in February 2025.

Victor Chin Boon Long, who was the chief operating officer of NexG in 2025 and who used to control MMAG, is said to be a central figure in the boardroom tussle.

It is not known when he joined NexG but according to a company announcement on Nov 17, he left NexG on Sept 30.

NexG’s spending spree started in November 2024 when it announced the acquisition of a 51% stake in Innov8tif Holdings Sdn Bhd from Revenue Group Bhd (KL:REVENUE) for RM40 million. The acquisition came with a profit guarantee of RM2.5 million due in December 2025 and RM3 million this year.

Interestingly, Revenue Group is said to be linked to associates of Chin.

Innov8tif is an information technology company specialising in cybersecurity. Its core business since 2011 has been to provide digital firms with services to verify and authenticate the identity of customers and businesses to prevent fraud. These services include ID proofing such as e-Know Your Customer (e-KYC) and e-Know Your Business (e-KYB).

The acquisition of Innov8tif was completed in March 2025.

In that same month, NexG announced the acquisition of a 9.53% stake or 220 million shares in MMAG for RM88 million. The acquisition was done in two tranches from Chan Swee Ying, Chin’s wife. The MMAG shares were acquired at 40 sen each.

Between July and September 2025, NexG extended corporate loans amounting to RM98.9 million to corporations and individuals. The loans were extended via NexG’s money lending subsidiary, MMR Capital Sdn Bhd. The recipients of the loan are not known. According to the company’s announcement, the loans are all secured and the repayment is over a period of between 12 and 18 months.

In September, NexG bought shares in NexG Bina for RM76.7 million. The shares were acquired at 15 sen each while the warrants were bought at an average of 3.5 sen per share.

The 32.6% block of shares in NexG Bina (formerly known as Caely Holdings Bhd before changing its name to Classita Holdings Bhd) was purchased from Hong Seng Consolidated Bhd (KL:HONGSENG), another company that is said to be linked to Chin.

Both MMAG and NexG Bina are trading at three sen each while NexG Bina’s warrant is only one sen. NexG had to provide for RM145 million in fair value losses on its investments in its latest results.

NexG has also seen changes in its external auditors since January. Baker Tilly Monteiro Heng PLT was appointed as its auditors last September but resigned in January this year. SBY Partners was supposed to take over but the firm also declined. Its current auditor is PKF PLT.

NexG’s balance sheet has changed significantly in the last two years.

In March 2024, NexG, which was then known as Datasonic Group Bhd, had cash and short-term investments in money markets amounting to RM112 million. It had trade receivables of RM164 million and total borrowings of less than RM66 million.

Essentially, its investments were only in money markets, bank deposits and cash. All the money was tied to liquid investments that could be redeemed within a day or two without much losses.

A year later in March 2025, the liquid investments comprising cash, bank deposits and short-term investments were down to about RM82 million.

Last year, the company undertook a private placement to raise RM66 million.

Based on the latest results for the period ended Dec 31, 2025, its cash and deposits are down to RM27.1 million while its short-term investments are at RM96 million. NexG’s other investments, which amounted to RM180 million at end-September 2025, have fallen to RM34.5 million.

Now, the company is embroiled in a boardroom tussle while the beneficiaries are obviously the recipients of the company’s RM303.7 million expenses.

Mind-boggling investments aside, NexG has contracts to supply Malaysian passport booklets and national identity cards worth RM2.6 billion under its belt. This is certainly a lucrative business that will draw interest. 

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