KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 26): Businessman Calvin Lau Chuen Yien has emerged as a substantial shareholder in Solution Group Bhd (KL:SOLUTN) after his investment vehicle Lavin Group Sdn Bhd increased its stake in the engineering solutions provider to 10.06%.

This follows Kretam Holdings Bhd (KL:KRETAM) chief executive officer Datuk Lim Nyuk Sang @ Freddy Lim exiting Solution Group’s substantial shareholder list.

Lau, via Lavin Group, acquired 28.42 million shares — equivalent to a 5.85% stake — through a direct business transaction on Oct 22, increasing his deemed interest to 48.91 million shares, according to a Solutions Group bourse filing on Monday. 

The transaction price was not disclosed. However, based on Solution Group’s closing price of 8.5 sen on Oct 22, Lau could have paid RM2.42 million for the block of shares.

Malaysia defines a substantial shareholder as a person who holds a direct or indirect interest of 5% or more in a company.

Lavin Group previously held 12 million shares, equivalent to a 2.48% stake, as at April 8, according to Solution Group’s annual report.

The same day Lau enlarged his stake, Lim disposed of 26.72 million Solution Group shares (equivalent to a 5.5% stake) in two tranches — one of 24.27 million and another of 2.45 million. 

Lim could have received about RM2.27 million from the disposal. Lim previously had a 5.52% stake, making him a substantial shareholder in April 2024.

The group’s other substantial shareholders include executive chairman Lim Yong Hew who holds a 13.98% stake, and Cansino Biologics (Hong Kong) Ltd with a 9.08% stake. 

Solution Group is engaged in designing and developing equipment for engineering education and research; developing training and curriculum content, and providing industrial automation and system integration solutions for telemetry supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA), instrumentation and control systems.

Shares of Solution Group closed unchanged at eight sen on Monday, giving it a market capitalisation of RM38.88 million.