NexG’s largest shareholder Ishak Ismail gains option route to founder Abu Hanifah's stake

Saturday 24 Oct 2026

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KUALA LUMPUR (April 21): While NexG Bhd (KL:NEXG) executive chairman Datuk Ishak Ismail had previously disclosed that Bestinet Sdn Bhd founder Datuk Aminul Islam Abdul Nor held a call option over Datuk Abu Hanifah Noordin’s stake in the company, he has now granted Abu Hanifah put options to sell that same block to him, while also securing matching call options over the 323.71 million shares.

Filings with Bursa Malaysia on Tuesday showed Abu Hanifah, who is deputy executive chairman and group chief executive officer of NexG, granting Ishak call options over three tranches totalling 323.71 million shares, equivalent to his entire direct 9.278% stake in the company.

Separately, Ishak granted Abu Hanifah put options over the same number of shares and on corresponding terms.

In an interview with The Edge Malaysia Weekly published earlier this month, Ishak said Aminul previously held a call option over Abu Hanifah’s stake, but suggested it was unlikely to be exercised.

“He (Aminul) can call the shares for Hanifah’s block, about 10%,” he said. "We have about 28%. It is not likely that Amin will call it — what for? He doesn’t run the company at 10%; that will cost him about RM200 million."

Ishak added that he could not directly acquire Abu Hanifah’s shares. In doing so, this would lift his stake beyond the 33% threshold that would trigger a mandatory general offer under takeover rules.

A call option gives the holder the right, but not the obligation, to buy shares at an agreed price, while a put option gives the holder the right to sell shares at the agreed price within the terms of the arrangement.

The filings on Tuesday stated that the options cover 97.4 million shares at 50 sen apiece, while the remaining 226.31 million shares are subject to prices ranging from 55 sen to 80 sen.

If fully exercised, the arrangement would allow Ishak to acquire Abu Hanifah’s direct shareholding, potentially lifting the camp aligned to NexG’s largest shareholder further above its current position.

As at Tuesday’s filing, Ishak held an indirect 23.717% stake in NexG via Raya Aviation Holdings Sdn Bhd and shares held by his daughter Siti Nur Aishah Ishak, while Abu Hanifah held a 9.278% direct stake and a further 0.301% indirect interest through his children.

The grant of the put and call options come less than a month after Ishak was redesignated executive chairman, while incumbent Abu Hanifah was moved to deputy executive chairman, although he retained the CEO post.

Ishak emerged as NexG’s largest shareholder in March through Raya Aviation, a company linked to his family, after acquiring a 20.4% stake and later raising his interest. His entry followed a boardroom tussle that led to the suspension and subsequent reinstatement of Abu Hanifah, as well as the resignation of several directors.

NexG, formerly known as Datasonic Group Bhd, is Malaysia’s sole supplier of passport booklets and MyKad-related products, and has remained under scrutiny following recent allegations involving an attempted “corporate mafia” takeover.

The group said it has undertaken internal reviews covering reputational issues and prior investment losses.

Shares of NexG were up four sen or 15.09% at 30.5 sen at Tuesday's market close, giving the group a market capitalisation of RM1.13 billion.

Edited ByLee Weng Khuen

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