Moves to undermine NMG unity
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Re highlights - unclear what a NEWS (all-caps) executive is - an exec of News Network Corp? According to the letter - what letter?YESTERDAY'S move by a group of more than 10 people claiming to be shareholders of Nation Multimedia Group to seek a probe wa
In the morning, the group led by Dissadej Hiranjirakun and Pratum Ruengsud went to the Department of Special Investigation (DSI) to seek an inquiry into the NMG share-buying case.
In the afternoon, the investors moved to NMG’s head office on Bang Na-Trat Road to cheer up Suthichai, chairman of NMG.
The group was welcomed by a team of senior staff outside the building.
They did not voice support for Sermsin, chairman of NMG’s executive committee.
Dissadej said the individual investors who showed up at the NMG office building were local people from southern provinces.
Duangkamol Chotana, chief executive officer of NMG, said she was not sure about the intention of the group. However, there was a doubt that the move might be part of a process to undermine the unity of NMG executives and shareholders in a bid to scoop up a majority of shareholder votes.
The director of the Thai Shareholders Association denied that this group was related to the association.A NEWS executive denied knowing those people when asked by a reporter from the Nation Group.
The purchase of a 12.27-per-cent stake in NMG by a new group of investors, including Solution Corner (1998), now known as News Network Corporation, has been seen as questionable regarding its financial trail.
The investor group submitted a petition to Suwanna Suwannajutha, director-general of the DSI, to take on the NMG case as a special case.
They said NMG’s stock had been fluctuating, with a wide gap between floor and ceiling prices for months without the support of any good news.
This was considered an abnormal situation and has severely damaged individual investors in the stock, they claimed.
According to the letter, The group of investors also asked the DSI to look into the purchases and sales of NMG shares by executive chairman Sermsin, three other people and a company over the past three years to see if there was any connection among them. Brokerages and marketing officers were also asked to see whether they were related to Sermsin’s trading of NMG’s shares.
