Tony Tiah buying TA Enterprise shares from open market

KUALA LUMPUR: Datuk Tony Tiah Thee Kian ( pic), who recently launched a mandatory general offer (MGO) at 66 sen per share for TA Enterprise Bhd, has been busy buying the firm’s shares from the open market.

A filing with Bursa Malaysia showed that Tiah bought 4.06 million shares for a total of RM2.66mil on July 6, 9 and 10.

He bought 2.50 million shares on July 6 for RM1.637mil and 1.36 million shares on July 9 for RM891.06mil and the following day, he purchased 200,000 units for RM131,000.

After the recent purchases, his direct shareholding in the company – which is involved in stockbroking and financial services; property development; and hospitality – has been raised to a total of 562.407 million shares or 32.85%.

Tiah and his wife Datin Alicia Tiah co-founded the company in the 1990s.

He is seeking to further strengthen his grip on TA Enterprise but analysts say the MGO at 66 sen per share is seen to have significantly undervalued the assets of the company. Its net assets per share was RM1.48 as at endMarch 2018.

StarBiz had reported that at only 0.45 times its book value, the offer price is unattractive, even though it may offer an exit opportunity for some investors who have acquired TA Enterprise’s shares at very low prices.

“The premium attached to the offer is rather low, so we don’t think there will be many takers,” a fund manager said.