Controlling shareholder emerging in Ta Win?
Sources say businessman Yeo has plans for Ta Win
PETALING JAYA: A new controlling shareholder, namely businessman Datuk Yeo Boon Leong, has emerged in Ta Win Holdings Bhd, a manufacturer of enamelled copper wires and copper rods.
Yeo is understood to have bought the shares via private firm Pioneer Conglomerate Sdn Bhd, where he is a director.
Filings with Bursa Malaysia showed that Pioneer purchased four million shares from the open market on Oct 19, bringing its 5% stake to 7.5 million shares or close to 12% of the firm.
Sources said Yeo, who some two years ago became a controlling shareholder in manufacturer of cast acrylic sheets Asia Poly Holdings Bhd, could possibly raise the 12% stake further.
Stock market data showed that an additional 2.5 million shares had changed hands yesterday at RM1.50 each.
“Yeo sees the potential in Ta Win. He believes that going upstream in such a business will give it a boost,” said a source.
Meanwhile, the filings also revealed that Ta Win’s founder, 78-year-old Taiwanese Chen HsiTao and his family members, had in recent weeks been paring down their stakes in the company.
It is learnt that while Ta Win would still be headed by Chen’s son, Yeo may take up the chairman’s position at the company, a post currently held by Chen.
Recall, Yeo had bought a 28% stake in Asia Poly from the former chief executive officer of hospital group Pantai Holdings Bhd, Tan Sri Lim Tong Yong, back in April 2015.
While Asia Poly’s net profits have remained relatively small, Yeo, who is now the single largest shareholder in Asia Poly, has said that the company is in the midst of raising funds to move upstream.
Yeo is known to be involved in a myriad of business activities, including once helming Bandar Kinrara Properties Sdn Bhd as managing director.
Yeo’s family also has a business called High Reserve Marketing Sdn Bhd, which is involved in the manufacturing of locks, lock sets and other hardware.
Its products are marketed under its brand Gere, which is a tribute to Hollywood actor Richard Gere.
StarBiz had first reported on the possibility of a new shareholder surfacing in Ta Win in August.
Citing sources, StarBiz said that Ta Win had recently been approached by a party seriously exploring a buyout of the firm.
While Ta Win’s net profit has been on a declining trend, no thanks to the economic slowdown globally, the company does have a few factors going for it.
It is a fairly established company, having been set up in the 1990s. Therefore, it enjoys some level of market leadership within the industry.
Interest savings and lower gearing are also expected, moving forward, as borrowings and financial costs fall partly due to last year’s disposal of its subsidiary, Ta Win Electronic Tech-Material (Changshu) Co Ltd.
In terms of borrowings, the company’s gearing ratio – where the higher it is, the higher the proportion of debt to equity – was lower at 41.71% as at the financial year ended Dec 31, 2016 compared with 55.1% a year earlier and 59.22% before that.
Just a year ago, the Ta Win stock, which trades on the Main Market of Bursa, was at the 30-sen level.
Year-to-date, it’s up over 300%, reflecting the changes that have, and are possibly about, to take place within the company.
Yesterday, the stock added 8% to finish at RM1.48, giving the firm a market capitalisation of RM98mil.