Raffles Education jumps nearly 20% after tycoon ups stake

SHARES of Raffles Education Corp sustained their gains on Wednesday afternoon after the company announced that substantial shareholder Oei Hong Leong had bumped up his stake slightly, from 12.9 per cent to 13.05 per cent. The tycoon bought an additional two million ordinary shares on Tuesday for S$284,594, Raffles Education said in a bourse filing on Wednesday.

Mr Oei has been trying to call for an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) in an attempt to, among other things, oust Raffles Education founder Chew Hua Seng as chief executive and chairman.

On Wednesday, the mainboard-listed private education provider called for a trading halt at 11.26am before disclosing Mr Oei's increased shareholding. It lifted the halt at 3.29pm.

The counter hit an intra-day high of 19.3 Singapore cents at about 10.48am. It was trading at 17.9 cents as at 4.38pm, up 2.9 cents or 19.3 per cent, after the announcement was made.

The rally had continued from the day before, when the stock climbed 31.6 per cent to finish at 15 cents and prompted a query from the Singapore Exchange. On Tuesday evening, Raffles Education told the bourse operator it was not aware of any reasons for the trading activity.

Last week, Raffles Education said it had received another notice of requisition, in which Mr Oei and Indian edtech businessman Shantanu Prakash called for a special auditor to be appointed to review the circumstances surrounding the company's joint venture with Mr Prakash's India-listed Educomp Solutions, on concerns of wrongdoing including alleged forgery and extortion.

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Six of the seven resolutions proposed in the latest requisition notice were the same as those listed in an Aug 17 notice sent by Mr Oei and his firm Oei Hong Leong Art Museum.