The move is said to have caught the attention of Malaysia’s investing community, which tends to be drawn to counters with perceived political connections.
Farhash holds no direct equity in NexG. He has a 20 per cent interest in MMAG, a publicly listed logistics firm in which NexG itself owns a 10 per cent stake.
FRAYING CORPORATE TIES
According to financial executives tracking NexG developments, relations between Chin and Farhash began fraying in mid-2025.
In and around the period, NexG had secured several new and extended government contracts: an 18-month extension from the Home Ministry for foreign worker cards, a six-year contract to supply Malaysian passports and identity cards, and expanded work producing driving licence cards for the Road Transport Department.
Bankers close to Chin said relations between the two men deteriorated over disagreements regarding Chin’s control of NexG, with Farhash seeking more direct equity interest. Farhash could not be reached by CNA for comment.
Corporate executives and bankers told CNA that the rupture soon drew regulatory heat on transactions NexG had entered into.
They said that this prompted Chin to seek potential investors to take over his interest in NexG.
It was against this backdrop that Ishak entered the picture.
In the 1990s, Ishak ranked among Malaysia’s most aggressive corporate players, frequently surfacing in takeovers of publicly listed companies and as a beneficiary of government concessions under Malaysia’s privatisation programme, including rights to operate national wastewater management through Indah Water.
Stockbrokers and financial executives close to Ishak said that in mid-November, the businessman acquired a 25 per cent interest in NexG controlled by Chin’s corporate vehicles and nominees.
