'The bigger the industry is, the more profit will be made.
Tan Sri Vincent Tan Chee Yioun plans to reduce his stake in Berjaya Crop Bhd (BCorp) to pave the way for a 51% acquisition in a financial services firm.
Through BCorp's official statement, Tan Sri Vincent plans to reduce his stake from 26% to 19.6% in the company as he evaluates the acquisition of a firm administered by Bank Negara Malaysia (BNM).
He commented that firms regulated by BNM under the Financial Services Act 2013 (FSA) include insurance broking, money broking, financial advice and digital banking.
FSA regulations state that an individual is only allowed to own no more than 10% interest in a financial institution and companies based on the gambling business are prohibited from holding equity in banks.
So far, the local tycoon has reportedly sold nearly 400 million shares on December 22 through direct business transactions.
It means Tan Sri Vincent now owns 12.95% direct interest and 13.29% indirect interest.
On the other hand, this is not BCorp's first involvement in the financial services industry with the company owning a 30% stake in Berjaya Sampo Insurans Bhd and the full owner of Inter-Pacific Securities Sdn Bhd.
In the meantime, the reduction of stake by Tan Sri Vincent saw the founder and managing director of Kossan Rubber Industries Bhd, Tan Sri Lim Kuang Sia, emerge as the main shareholder of BCorp.
As of this writing, BCorp shares are trading flat at 30 sen with a market capitalization of around RM1.79 billion.
