KUALA LUMPUR (March 14): HeiTech Padu Bhd saw Datuk Farhash Wafa Salvador emerge as a new substantial shareholder with an indirect interest of 15.9% or 16.1 million shares acquired earlier this week.

Farhash was formerly political aide to Prime Minister Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim and PKR’s Perak chief. He was appointed as executive chairman of Excel Force MSC Bhd in May last year, and group executive chairman of Apex Equity Holdings Bhd in December 2022.

HeiTech told Bursa Malaysia that Farhash has deemed interest in the company via a private vehicle Rosetta Partners Sdn Bhd, which bought 9.69 million shares on Tuesday (March 12) and 6.16 million shares on Monday.

The acquisition was done via a direct business transaction, according to HeiTech’s stock exchange filing on Thursday.

The acquisition price was not disclosed, but according to Bloomberg data, there were 9.69 million HeiTech shares crossed off market at RM2.15 apiece on Tuesday, a 27% discount versus the stock’s closing price of RM2.95 on the same day.

The counter has been on a steep climb since late February, logging a month-to-date gain of 68% to a record high of RM2.99 on Monday (March 11), before selling pressure kicked in during the following three trading days.

Selling pressure appeared to be particularly heavy on Thursday, weighing HeiTech down by 43 sen or 15% to RM2.43, valuing it at RM245.98 million.

The stock's combined losses of 56 sen over the past three trading days erased nearly half of the RM1.21 gains it accumulated since the beginning of the month.

Farhash was not the first that swooped into HeiTech amid the recent rally. MyEG Services Bhd earlier this week disclosed that it acquired a 14.4% stake in HeiTech on March 7 for RM31.25 million as part of a strategic investment.

On Monday (March 11), HeiTech disclosed that the e-government solutions provider acquired another 1.51 million shares to increase its shareholdings to 15.9%.

On the same day, HeiTech announced that it secured a contract extension worth RM13.11 million for the provision of maintenance services to the Malaysian Immigration System (MyIMMs).

The extension came amid the government's selection process for the development of the National Integrated Immigration System (NIISe) to replace MyIMMs, which Home Minister Datuk Seri Saifuddin Nasution Ismail reportedly said was outdated and no longer capable of meeting future immigration needs.

The Edge recently reported that HeiTech is among three companies shortlisted by the government to develop the NIISe project, which is understood to be worth over RM1 billion.