Robert Tan in talks to sell shares in PDZ

PETALING JAYA: PDZ Holdings Bhd has confirmed that its major shareholder and former chairman, Tan Sri Datuk Tan Hua Choon, is planning to sell his stake in the loss making shipping firm.
In a stock exchange announcement yesterday, PDZ said, Tan is in discussions with "some parties" to sell his block of shares in the company.
"After due enquiry with the major shareholder concerned, the board of directors wishes to announce that Tan has confirmed that he is holding talks with some parties with the view of divesting his shareholdings in the company.
PDZ said it will make an announcement if there is any further development.
Reports of Tan, the small cap king, selling off his stake in the ailing shipping firm, saw PDZ emerge as one of the most active stocks on the market yesterday.
PDZ's share price jumped 0.5 sen, or 6.25%, to close at 16.5 sen yesterday, with 103.67 million shares traded.
Tan owns 19.13% in PDZ, and has been a shareholder of the company since November 2000. Based on the stock's closing of 16.5 sen yesterday, Tan's stake in PDZ is worth RM27.6 million.
PDZ shares have been traded heavily since January 2014. It was reported that Tan, a low profile tycoon, was seeking to unlock the values of some his listed companies by injecting new shareholders that bring with them new businesses.
In January, the 72-year-old's Malaysia Aica Bhd (Maica) received a takeover offer from property developer Sunsuria Development Sdn Bhd which saw Maica shares sky rocketing by about 60%.
In February, there was speculation that Tan was planning to sell his shares in PDZ to steer the container shipping firm into an oil and gas outfit. However, that ambition failed when talks of a reverse takeover between PDZ and Efogen's O&G assets stalled.
PDZ has been struggling after it was hit hard as a result of the industry's downturn since the 2008 economic crisis.
For the second quarter ended Dec 31, 2013, PDZ's net loss widened to RM3.35 million, from RM419,000 in losses in the previous year. Revenue also shrank to RM38.13 million from RM53.48 million before.
For the first six-month period, PDZ posted RM2.57 million in net losses from RM684,000 in losses previously while revenue decreased to RM81.73 million from RM106.86 million.