Brahmal acquires 3% interest in OCK
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This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on October 7, 2016.

 

KUALA LUMPUR: Businessman Brahmal Vasudevan is believed to have recently taken up a stake of up to 3% in telecommunication services company OCK Group Bhd, said a source close to the matter, adding that he may consider upping his stake to a substantial one.

“Brahmal has recently taken up around 2% to 3% of OCK’s shareholdings through one of his companies, and may be looking at taking up a substantial stake in the company somewhere this year, due to OCK’s good financial record and its regional expansion activities,” the source told The Edge Financial Daily.

Brahmal is best known as the founder and chief executive officer of Creador II LLC, a private equity firm, which according to its website, partners with passionate entrepreneurs to grow world-class businesses in South and Southeast Asia.

He also sits on the board of Usaha Tegas Sdn Bhd, tycoon T Ananda Krishnan’s privately held investment firm which is the ultimate shareholder of Maxis Bhd, Astro Malaysia Holdings Bhd and Bumi Armada Bhd.

What excites the market whenever Brahmal emerges in any company is the savvy investor’s reputation he carries with him.

One good example is his Old Town Bhd investment. On March 4, 2012 Neobalano Carpus Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Creador had emerged as substantial shareholder in OldTown with a purchase of a 5.8% stake in the company,

Creador then continued to accumulate OldTown shares to a 10% stake, before disposing its substantial shareholdings in April 2013. OldTown was the darling of the stock market during that period, with its share price more than doubling to RM1.82 in April 2013 compared with 86.5 sen in March 2012.

Today, Brahmal is a substantial shareholder in several other notable Bursa Malaysia-listed companies such as Asiamet Education Group Bhd, in which he has a 28.9% stake via Creador, and Excel Force MSC Bhd, in which he owns a 6.7% stake.

In January last year, he had teamed up with SMRT Holdings Bhd to turnaround the ailing Masterskill Education Group, with a RM112 million acquisition of Masterskill’s then major shareholder and former executive director Siva Kumar M Jeyapalan’s 30.75% stake in the company.

Masterskill has since been renamed Asiamet Education Group Bhd, and its losses which stood at RM43.43 million as at Dec 31, 2014 (FY14) has been narrowed to RM21.74 million as at FY15.

Brahmal emerged as a substantial shareholder in Excel Force in May this year. Year to date, Excel Force shares have appreciated 79% from 83.6 sen on Dec 31 last year, as the counter had gained interest following the emergence of Asia Internet Holdings Sdn Bhd, the single-largest shareholder in MyEG Services Bhd, in Excel Force on April 26.

As for OCK, the telecommunication services and green renewable energy provider has been making headlines due to its expansion into the Asean region.

The group is expected to have some 3,000 telecommunication towers across Malaysia, Myanmar and Vietnam by year end, with its latest acquisition being Vietnam’s largest independent base transceiver station owner in August.

Under the agreement, OCK’s indirect 60%-owned subsidiary, OCK Vietnam Towers Pte Ltd, will acquire Southeast Asia Telecommunications Holdings Pte Ltd for US$50 million (RM206.50 million) from Vietnam Infrastructure Ltd.

For the first half of its financial year ended June 30, 2016 (1HFY16), OCK had reported a 11.8% increase in net profit to RM9.17 million from RM8.2 million a year earlier, due to higher revenue.

Revenue increased by 52.2% to RM192.45 million from RM126.43 million on higher contribution from contracting works in Malaysia as well as contribution from its regional businesses in Indonesia, Cambodia and Myanmar.

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