LI KA-SHING ASSOCIATE RAISES HIS STAKE IN XOX TO 8.22%
Daniel Tam, who is linked to Hong Kong billionaire Li Ka-Shing has raised his stake in XOX Bhd.
According to a Bursa filing by XOX today, Daniel Tam is now a substantial shareholder in the company with 8.22 per cent stake, up from 7.05 per cent yesterday.
He bought 20 million shares via open market transaction today. Yesterday, he acquired 120 million shares via the company's Private Placement.
In a separate announcement, XOX said that the Private Placement has been completed following the listing and quotation of 207.72 million and 120 million Placement Shares, being the first and final tranche of Placement Shares for the Private Placement, on the ACE Market of Bursa Securities on 22 July 2020, and 23 July 2020 respectively.
The stock rose to as high as 20.5 today in morning trade. It closed unchanged at 18.5, maintaining the company's market capitalisation at RM295 million. A total of 546 million shares were traded.
Daniel Tam's entry into XOX is probably because the Bursa-listed firm is expected to launch the fifth-generation (5G) wireless mobile network here in Malaysia together with one of China's top telecommunications (telecom) groups.
There are only three top players in China - China Mobile, China Telecom, or China Unicom.
XOX chief executive officer Ng Kok Hen was quoted by an English newspaper recently where he said one of the telecom groups in China had approached the company to develop a 5G network in Malaysia and talks are on-going. The telecom group reportedly will invest up to RM10 billion to develop the infrastructure over five to six years.
In addition to the 5G, XOX has a partnership with Wetek Technology (Malaysia) Sdn Bhd, which has a money lending licence to provide micro-financing of up to RM1 billion to XOX's existing 2.2 million subscribers in Malaysia.
Wetek, whose directors are Howard Leung Hao, chairman and CEO of Brilliant (Hong Kong) Holdings Ltd, and Liang Zeng, an internet entrepreneur and venture capitalist, is also looking to provide micro-financing in the amount of RM2 billion to entrepreneurs and small business owners in Southeast Asia, together with XOX.
The micro-financing business in Malaysia, which is starting soon, will immediately improve XOX's bottomline by a significant amount. XOX's subscriber base is also expected to double up by the end of this year.
This service will be extended to individuals and small businesses who have no access to conventional banking and related services by populating XOX's eWallet for usage in the XOX Digital Marketplace.
Back to Daniel Tam and how we think he might be linked to Li Ka-Shing
Daniel Tam is a shareholder and director of a large Hong Kong-listed investment group, in which Li Ka-Shing also holds a substantial stake.
Is he buying the shares in XOX on his personal capacity to be part of the company's 5G plan in Malaysia? Or is he a proxy for Li Ka-Shing, who is nicknamed "Superman" and known for holding shares in companies through proxies.
According to Forbes, Li Ka-shing has a networth of US$26.5 billion as of July 21, 2020 and he is one of the most influential businessmen in Asia.
The billionaire retired as chairman of CK Hutchison Holdings and CK Asset Holdings in May 2018 but remains senior advisor.
Daniel Tam is also a director of another Hong Kong-listed Chong Kin Group Holdings Ltd, a concrete services provider, which is currently trading around HK3.00.
According to Chong Kin's website, it has been actively exploring business opportunities in different sectors to diversify its source of income.