Nazifuddin never fails to excite market
But will the Prime Minister’s son stay long enough in SerSol?
THE sons of two powerful people are now part of modest SerSol Bhd. One is the managing director of the paints and coating company, while the other is a shareholder.
On Sept 3, Mohamed Ridzuan Nor Md was appointed SerSol managing director (MD). And in the middle of the week, Mohd Nazifuddin Mohd Najib (pic), together with his business partner Lim Kim Chai, emerged as a substantial shareholder in the company with a 20.76% stake.
Ridzuan is the son of former finance minister Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop, while Nazifuddin is Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Razak’s son.
Nazifuddin’s entry has created ripples in the market.
He shot into the limelight for the first time last November, partnering Datuk Raymond Chan of the Sagajuta group and emerging in Harvest Court Industries Bhd.
Chan, via his 67.69%-owned private vehicle Generasi Cipta Sdn Bhd, bought a 15.94% stake in timber door-maker Harvest Court Industries. Nazifuddin held 2.2%.
However, Nazifuddin resigned from the board just before the counter attracted much unwanted publicity when it was declared a designated stock.
In February, Chan bought into Naim Indah Corp Bhd or Nicorp with five other investors, including Nazifuddin.
A month later, Nazifuddin was offered a stake in Supercomnet Technologies Bhd, which he declined. And in July this year, Nazifuddin was linked to Eastland Equity Bhd in a proposed privateplacement exercise. His name is mostly linked to counters on the Ace market.
The stock was unchanged in yesterday’s trading, but SerSol has seen a sharp rise in its stock price, resulting in it being queried for unusual market activity by Bursa Malaysia on July 23. Trading at 34.5 sen then, it has since gained 67.5 sen. It closed at RM1.02 a share yesterday.
Two days after Ridzuan was appointed MD, SerSol entered into a memorandum of understanding with the Malay Contractors Association or PKMM to supply 1Malaysia Paint (Cat 1Malaysia) to the association’s members. The association plans to encourage its members to buy paint from SerSol.
Nazifuddin bought into SerSol because he felt it offered “good value.”
The market is seeing many more sons of corporate captains and politicians coming in and taking positions either in their fathers’ companies or elsewhere. Two weeks ago, Tan Sri Liew Kee Sin’s son, Liew Tian Xiong, together with Eco World Development Sdn Bhd, launched a takeover offer of Focal Aims Holdings Bhd.
There are several others who have made bids, such as the YTL boys, Tan Sri Quek Leng Chan and his son in the banking business, Tan Sri Shamsuddin Abdul Kadir’s sons, Tan Sri Chua Ma Yu and his children, and, of course, Tun Dr Mahathir Mohamad’s sons, who are the most famous of the lot.
Many have also teamed up and one such partnership in the recent past is that of Datuk Mokhzani Mahathir and Tan Sri Shahril Shamsuddin when they merged their empires to create SapuraKencana Petroleum Bhd.
In the business world, wanting to do something is one thing and having the skills to do it is another. Although Nazifuddin has never failed to excite the market, more so since he is the Prime Minister’s son, his entry this time is on the radar screens of many.
No doubt, investors come and go and they can invest wherever they see value. But the question being bandied about this time is: Will this be another sojourn for him or will it be a long stay? Whatever the plan, the minority shareholders need to know, as they may be banking on him to invest in the stock. The plan has to be clear from the onset.