Akhbar Khan's controversial cash offer for M$12 billion (about HK$24.49 billion) of frozen Malaysian shares has received a paltry response, garnering an embarrassingly low acceptance rate of less than 0.1 per cent.
The Singapore stock exchange's central depositary yesterday announced it had received acceptances from Singapore-based investors for just 9.1 million shares - worth $11.1 million - by the close of the offer yesterday.
Investors have been unhappy over the huge discount.
Mr Khan declined to comment on the poor response but said he would issue a statement today.
At stake are the shareholdings of more than 170,000 Singapore-based investors, who bought the Malaysian stocks through Singapore's over-the-counter market, Clob International, before Kuala Lumpur banned overseas trading in Malaysian shares in September last year when it introduced capital controls.
Frustrated Singapore-based investors have not been able to touch their money since and bilateral talks between Singapore and Malaysia's leaders have got nowhere.
In a bid to break the nine-month deadlock, Mr Khan - a little-known Singapore retailer living in Kuala Lumpur - has won the Malaysian Government's blessing to make a general offer to buy all the shares in bulk at a discount through his firm Effective Capital.
