ON March 5, Peter Ling Ee Kong emerged as a substantial shareholder of Advanced Packaging Technology (M) Bhd (APT) after acquiring 950,000 shares, or 4.52%, of the packaging material manufacturer at RM2.85 per share.

On the same day, the group’s co-founder and former managing director Tan Cheng Keat ceased to be a substantial shareholder after disposing of the same number of shares through a direct business transaction. Prior to the disposal, Tan was the largest shareholder of APT.

The price of RM2.85 was at a 31.33% premium over APT’s closing price of RM2.17 on March 5. Over the last one year, the counter has been trading between RM1.74 and RM2.40.

Not much information can be found on Ling, although he could be the former director of Wembley Industries Holdings Bhd, a once-listed subsidiary of Ekran Bhd — the flagship company of Tan Sri Ting Pek Khiing.

APT is a small company with a market capitalisation of RM45 million. In its financial year ended Dec 31, 2019, it registered a net loss of RM143,000, compared with a net profit of RM1.05 million in the previous financial year.

Over at Borneo Oil Bhd, Datuk Freddy Lim Nyuk Sang disposed of 55 million shares, or a 1.04% stake, on March 4 at three sen each, according to the group’s filing with Bursa Malaysia. Following the disposal, Lim ceased to be a substantial shareholder of the gold mining outfit.

Borneo Oil made a net loss of RM6.74 million in the financial year ended June 30, 2019 (FY2019). However, in the first half of FY2020, it reported a small net profit of RM900,000, compared with a net loss of RM575,000 in the previous corresponding period.

Tycoon Lim is well known in Sabah’s oil palm industry, being the largest shareholder and CEO of Kretam Holdings Bhd, with a 47.2% direct stake.

Lim first emerged as a substantial shareholder of Borneo Oil in July 2019, when he acquired 55.56 million shares off market. This did not excite the market, as the company’s share price continued to trade within a tight band of four to five sen.

Meanwhile, an investment holding company indirectly owned by Khazanah Nasional Bhd sold 29 million shares representing 27.88% of Malaysian Genomics Resource Centre Bhd (MGRC) on March 5.

According to MGRC’s filings with Bursa Malaysia, Synamatix Sdn Bhd sold the block through off-market direct deals to Crest Advisory Bhd, a private equity fund. The block was disposed of at 24.5 sen a share, representing an 11.4% premium over MGRC’s closing price on March 5.

Following the deal, Crest Advisory is now the second-largest shareholder of the BioNexus status company, after Synamatix, which has a 28.4% stake.

At Nextgreen Global Bhd, Datuk Laurence Yeo Chua Poh ceased being a substantial shareholder after his investment holding company Amechanus Ventures Sdn Bhd disposed of 10 million shares, or a 1.95% stake, in the book and magazine printing company on March 5.

The block was sold at 38 sen a share, representing a 2.7% pre­mium over the counter’s closing price that day. After the disposal, Yeo’s shareholding in Nextgreen stood at 15 million shares, or 2.92% of the company’s total share base.