Disclaimer: Readers are advised to trading or investing in the listed companies mentioned in this article at their own risk. FreeStocksIdeas does not make any investing recommendation to its readers. The purpose of this website is to share investment ideas. Readers are advised to exercise their OWN judgment in their OWN investment decision.
On 2nd July 2019, AURORA MULIA SDN BHD, acquired about 123m shares of Media Prima, Malaysia’s largest free-to-air television operator. That is about 11% stake in Media Prima (Bloomberg Ticker: MPR:MK). According to The Edge Malaysia, Aurora Mulia Sdn Bhd is an affiliated company of Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar. The Edge also reported rumor has it that Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar also owns another 13% stake in Media Prima through Mitsubishi Financial Group. This gives Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar a 24% stake in Media Prima.
According to The Edge Malaysia, which found the transaction price on Bloomberg, the deal was transacted at RM0.60 per share, which is roughly 23% premium over the recently traded price of RM0.485 per share. It’s interesting to see that Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar is so confident to buy distressed assets at 23% premium.
One of our contributing members dug deeper into Bursa Malaysia disclosures and found that Mitsubishi Financial Group has been buying up stake in Media Prima since 4th April 2017. Media Prima was trading at RM1.00 – 1.20 in the 1H17. The last purchase made by Mitsubishi Financial Group was disclosed to Bursa Malaysia on 12th April 2019. The closing price of Media Prima on 12th April 2019 was RM 0.48. According to the Bursa Malaysia disclosure, Mitsubishi Financial Group (the name of the register holder) owns 142.385m shares, or 12.837% stake in Media Prima.
Assuming Mitsubishi Financial Group acquired the 12.837% stake evenly between 4th April 2017 and 12th April 2019, at price range of RM 0.48 to RM 1.10, we estimate Mitsubishi Financial Group paid an average price of RM 0.79 (based on the simple arithmetic average of RM 0.48 + RM 1.10) for the 142.385m shares. If Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar really controls the 142.385m shares of Media Prima through Mitsubishi Financial Group, Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar paid an average RM 0.70 per share for a total 265.39m shares in Media Prima. That is 44.3% premium over Media Prima’s today closing price of RM 0.485. Total capital invested in Media Prima is roughly about RM186m!!!
Based on our experience, we believe this is a very strong indicator that Media Prima business is deeply undervalued, at least in the eye of Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar. The Edge Malaysia also pointed out Tan Sri’s track record in growing his business empire since the 1990’s and 2000’s. Go get a copy of The Edge Malaysia to take a quick look at Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar’s track record in building DRB-Hicom and MMC Holdings.
Many may ask why we should buy a distressed company with so many threats from online video streaming platforms from Netflix, iFlix and Astro. Our media industry expert expresses his view that Media Prima is not just a free-to-air (FTA) television station. It is one of the largest professional video content producers in Malaysia, probably just behind Astro Malaysia due to financial constraints. Netflix does not disclose its user penetration in Malaysia. Looking at Malaysia demographic distribution and internet penetration, common sense would tell you that a good majority of the population in Malaysia still love to watch their news, dramas, and variety shows in their mother tongues.
Go do a quick Google Search, Malay/Chinese/Indians each account for roughly 65%/25%/7% respectively. There is no way Netflix will become the mainstream video platform, be it FTA or through online platform. Not to mention that Malaysia’s poor internet connectivity and speed hinders the growth of online video streaming platform. For the same reason, Astro Malaysia is still dominating the country paid TV market with an almost monopolistic market share with weak contenders struggling to gain viewership and TV advertising dollars.
Free Stocks Ideas 