KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 1): The three co-founders and executive directors of Main Market-listed MN Holdings Bhd (KL:MNHLDG) have made a combined net gain of nearly RM45 million after converting company warrants into shares at just 20 sen apiece and offloading a chunk of those shares to institutional investors at RM3.91 per share.

According to the infrastructure utilities specialist's bourse filings on Wednesday, the transactions — coming less than two months after the group transferred to the Main Market — involved managing director Datuk Toh Eng Keat and executive directors Datuk Loy Siong Hay and Datuk Dang Siong Diang.

The trio exercised a total of 20 million warrants between Sept 1 and Sept 29 at the fixed price of 20 sen each, converting them into ordinary shares on a 1:1 basis.

They subsequently sold 12 million of these converted shares at RM3.91 per share — 19.55 times the exercise price — via direct business transactions on Wednesday for gross proceeds of RM46.92 million against an acquisition cost of RM2.40 million.

Toh converted eight million warrants into ordinary shares for RM1.6 million on Sept 1 and Loy made similar transaction on Sept 15. They then offloaded 4.8 million shares each for RM18.77 million. This means the duo booked a net gain of RM17.81 million each, based on their respective outlay of RM960,000 for the shares sold.

Meanwhile, Dang converted four million warrants into ordinary shares for RM800,000 on Sept 29. The next day, he sold 2.4 million shares at RM3.91 apiece for RM9.38 million, pocketing RM8.9 million profit after deducting his RM480,000 outlay for the sold shares.

As the founders exercised 20 million warrants into shares but sold only 12 million, their respective shareholdings still expanded despite the latest disposals.

Toh's stake now stands at 14.65%, up from 14.64% before the warrant conversion and disposal, while Loy's stake increased to 12.91% from 12.85%; Dang's interest likewise rose to 5.91% from 5.88%.

The transactions come on the heels of MN Holdings' transfer to the Main Market on Aug 11.

On Aug 12, just a day after the board transfer, Toh and Loy exercised their existing employees share option scheme (ESOS) options at an exercise price of 78.6 sen per share. Toh acquired 450,000 units while Loy acquired 750,000 units.

Less than a month later, on Sept 9, MN Holdings announced a fresh grant of 15 million ESOS options, awarding 1.8 million options each to Toh, Loy and Dang at an exercise price of RM3.265. At the time, the stock closed at RM3.86.

The moves follow a steady rally for MN Holdings, which has been reporting strong earnings growth driven by contracts related to data centre developments and the expansion of the national power grid.

The stock debuted on the ACE Market at 21 sen per share in April 2022, then transferred its listing to the Main Market at a reference price of RM2.90.

This year alone, the stock has climbed RM2.26 to close at RM3.94 on Wednesday, giving MN Holdings a market capitalisation of RM2.71 billion.