This article first appeared in Capital, The Edge Malaysia Weekly on August 3, 2026 - August 9, 2026
Notable filings
Notable filings of shareholding changes for the period between July 20 and 24 included the emergence of the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) as a substantial shareholder of semiconductor factory cleanroom automation specialist Stratus Global Holdings Bhd (KL:STRATUS).
EPF had acquired 43.75 million shares in the Penang-based company on July 21 — which was its maiden trading day on the Main Board — to lift its holdings to 63.5 million shares or 5.08%. It is not immediately certain if the shares were purchased at the initial public offering (IPO) price of 80 sen or were purchased on the market, with the filing saying the “shares [were] acquired during IPO” while also showing purchases and disposals by its fund managers that day. EPF still had 63.25 million shares or a 5.06% stake on July 22 after disposing of 250,000 shares.
Stratus Global’s Japanese founder and CEO Ryo Narisawa acquired 2.5 million “pink form” or eligible director shares in relation to the IPO, to raise his direct holdings to 3.1% while he is also deemed interested in a 41.6% stake, separate filings show.
Stratus Global shares ended its first day 163.75% higher at RM2.11 apiece to give it a market capitalisation of just below RM2.64 billion. The stock closed at RM2.07 last Wednesday (July 29) to value it at RM2.59 billion.
MTT Shipping and Logistics Bhd (KL:MTTSL), which made its debut on the Main Market on April 21, saw the emergence of Aberdeen Group plc and abrdn Holdings Ltd as a substantial shareholder with indirect holdings of 126.86 million shares or a 5.075% stake on July 20 after one or more funds managed by abrdn Malaysia Sdn Bhd bought the shares.
MTTSL shares — which opened at RM1.08 but closed at RM1.00 or 2.91% below its IPO price of RM1.03 on its first day to give it a market value of RM2.5 billion — had skidded to as low as 89 sen intraday on May 7 before moving higher. Last Tuesday (July 28), the counter closed above its IPO price for the first time at RM1.04 and went on to close at RM1.05 last Wednesday.
Over at Frontken Corp Bhd (KL:FRONTKN), Prudential plc emerged as a substantial shareholder with just over 5% equity interest or 90.7 million shares after its subsidiary Eastspring Investment Bhd’s managed funds bought 686,000 shares on July 16 when the stock traded between RM4.83 and RM4.89 before closing at RM4.85. Frontken shares closed at RM5 last Wednesday to give it a market value of RM9.06 billion.
Notable movements
Closing at RM4.77 last Wednesday, shares of Unisem (M) Bhd (KL:UNISEM) were down 10% from as high as RM5.30 on May 29 but 83.5% above their year-to-date low of RM2.60 on March 30.
A July 24 filing shows the emergence of Norges Bank — Norway’s central bank that also manages the US$2 trillion Government Pension Fund Global — as a substantial shareholder after it purchased 87.93 million shares or a 5.13% stake in the semiconductor assembly and test services provider on July 22.
Subsequently, Norges Bank sold 1.8 million shares on July 24 to trim its holdings to 85.9 million shares or a 5.01% stake. Unisem shares traded between RM4.52 and RM4.70 before closing at RM4.69 on July 24.
Norges Bank was not the only buyer. Unisem chairman and managing director John Chia Sin Tet bought 150,000 shares at RM4.805 apiece on July 27 and 150,000 shares at RM4.693 apiece on July 28. These closed-period open-market purchases raised his indirect holdings to 337.35 million shares or a 19.67% stake. He holds 148.73 million shares or a 8.67% stake directly.
The fund manager of Kumpulan Wang Persaraan (Diperbadankan) (KWAP) bought 500,000 shares on July 28 to raise its indirect holdings to 9.26 million shares or 0.54%, while also holding 95.58 million shares or 5.58% directly.
Over at Tenaga Nasional Bhd (KL:TENAGA), the country’s primary electricity provider saw sovereign wealth fund Khazanah Nasional Bhd dispose of 100 million shares or a 1.72% stake on July 22 to pare its direct holdings to 821.97 million shares or a 14.1% stake, while also deemed interested in 130 million shares or a 2.23% stake.
Khazanah placed out the shares at RM13.91 apiece on July 21, being a 4.5% discount to the closing price of RM14.56 that day, Bloomberg reported on July 24, citing unnamed people with knowledge of the matter.
Khazanah, which was once Tenaga’s largest shareholder, is now the second largest after EPF, which bought 35 million shares on July 22 to lift its holdings to 1.44 billion shares or a 24.74% stake. The fund’s holdings slipped to 24.73% following a net disposal of 483,800 shares on July 23.
Closing at RM14.60 last Wednesday, Tenaga shares were up 8.5% year to date and had increased 60.6% from end-2023.
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