HoHup ... Mar10

Tan Sri Tong Yoke Kim @ Tong Kiot Seng, who controls 19.27% of Bina Puri Holdings
Bhd via a privately held entity, has emerged as a substantial shareholder in Ho Hup with a 7.28% interest.

Tong and his son, Datuk Andrew Tong So Han, own just under 20% of Bina Puri, also a construction company, via their entity Bumimaju Mawar Sdn Bhd, making them the second-largest shareholders. It remains unclear from whom Tong acquired the shares as the deal was done off market.

Little is also known of Tong, other than his interest in Bumimaju and that he is listed on the Chinese Chamber of Commerce & Industry of Kuala Lumpur and Selangor’s website as among its honorary presidents for 2006-2009.

Via Bumimaju, the Tongs had acquired their interest in Bina Puri in September 2009, when the company completed a debt-capitalisation exercise in which it issued 20 million new shares to Bumimaju worth RM20 million, after it had given RM20 million in advances to Bina Puri for working capital.

Bina Puri had carried out the exercise to trim its accumulated debt of RM156 million.

Prior to the exercise, Bumimaju did not have any interest in Bina Puri, whose largest shareholder is Jentera Jati Sdn Bhd with also an under-20% stake.

The emergence of Tong as a substantial shareholder in Ho Hup is bound to raise eyebrows, given that it had just crossed a major hurdle in resolving its boardroom tussle which began in 2008.

The new board is now evaluating both regularisation plans submitted by Low and Lye, with a new plan expected to be submitted in early April 2010.

Low’s plan involves a renounceable one-for-four rights issue of 25.5 million irredeemable convertible preference shares (ICPS) in Ho Hup, with two free warrants for each ICPS subscribed, under an exercise expected to raise an initial RM25.5 million. He also proposed the disposal of non-core land to raise more capital and to enter into joint development deals with other parties. Lye had originally put forth a 95% capital reduction plan and a sizeable new share placement, which would have brought in fresh cash and new controlling shareholders, but this was then scaled down to a 60% capital reduction and a smaller share placement.

The board headed by Lye had made an announcement to Bursa Malaysia just hours before the EGM that Ho Hup’s unit Bukit Jalil Development Sdn Bhd (BJD) had formed a JV development agreement with Malton Bhd’s subsidiary Pioneer Haven Sdn Bhd to develop a parcel of land owned by BJD, entitling BJD to at least RM265 million, while Pioneer Haven would be solely responsible for meeting and defraying the development costs.

Going forward further developments including legal actions not to be ruled out, it was reported that the company’s advisers, AmInvestment Bank Bhd and Newfields Advisors Sdn Bhd, had resigned, presenting another hurdle to its restructuring plans.