Big Envair shareholder sells out

by **hlk** Fri 25 Nov 2011, 21:52

PETALING JAYA: A substantial shareholder of Envair Holding Bhd had disposed of his entire 6.75% stake less than a month after acquiring it on Nov 1.

On Nov 23, filings with stock exchange showed the owner, Chinese national Jiang Chuan Yi, had sold off all his shares at an undisclosed price through open market transactions.

Filings on Nov 1 showed that Jiang bought his block of shares amounting to 8 million shares directly from the loss-making manufacturer of air and water filters at an undisclosed price. The shares were traded at its five-year high of 41.5 sen.

Envair's stock surged in early October from 11 sen to 40 sen before the company unveiled its plans to venture into the oil and gas industry by supplying two million barrels of light crude oil monthly for 60 months to a China-based company, An Hong Shenzhen.

Mirroring what was seen in other penny stocks recently, the rapid exit of these substantial shareholders is a cause for concern.

Previously, both Sanichi Technology Bhd and DVM Technology Bhd had also seen certain investors buying into and briefly selling out of these companies, raising questions about their motives.

In Sanichi's case, the counter hit limit-up on Aug 2, gaining 66% to 7.5 sen on exceptionally heavy trading volume.

A day later, it was reported that Datuk Md Wira Dani Abdul Daim, son of former finance minister Tun Daim Zainuddin, was a new substantial shareholder of the design and fabrication of precision mould and tooling firm with 10 million shares or 6.1% in the loss-making firm.

On the same day, Sanichi shares surged to 9.5 sen before hitting 10.5 sen the following day.

On Aug 5, filings with the stock exchange showed that Wira had sold all his shares at an undisclosed price. Sanichi shares had since dropped to 6 sen.

Kenmark Industrial Co (M) Bhd last year created headlines after its key management and Taiwanese executive directors went missing, leaving the company in a fix.

A week later, former director and tycoon Datuk Ishak Ismail emerged as a substantial shareholder in the firm but he sold off his entire stake in two weeks for a profit.

The SC has since commenced civil proceedings against Ishak.