Mah a controlling shareholder of Pulai Springs since 2007

Not many are aware that Nick Mah Siew Chean has been the controlling shareholder of hospitality and property developer Pulai Springs Bhd since 2007.

Mah emerged as the shareholder of the company with a 32.9 per cent stake when he acquired 32 million shares then held by Datuk Chua Jui Leng.

Mah took over the reign of Pulai Springs at the age of 30. His move into the company came after the sale of Novotel Hydro Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, and the suitor then was Pulai Springs Bhd.

In an interview with Business Times, Mah said following the sale of Novotel, he was so taken aback by the beauty and splendour of Pulai Springs Resort that he negotiated and subsequently bought the company from Chua.
"We decided to take over the company as we were attracted by the potential it had," he said.

Mah's experience in the hospitality business can be traced back to his father, Mah King Hock, a lawyer by profession, who decided to venture into property development. From property development, there was a natural transition into the hotel business.

"My father went into this business 15 years ago when my sister started studying hospitality in Australia," the junior Mah said, adding that the hotel was somewhat a training ground for them.

His father bought an 86-room historic Hotel in Blue Mountains Australia called Hydro Majestic Blue Mountain. This became a venue where the Mah siblings started their journey in the hospitality industry.

The hotel has since been sold.

Today, the family owns two hotels in Australia - the Airport Sydney International Inn and Metro Hotel Sydney. Both hotels are ranked three-star and have about 120-odd rooms.

In 2005, the family bought the Novotel Hydro Majestic in Kuala Lumpur, which now belongs to The Nomad Group Bhd.

A year later, it bought the Ferringhi Beach Hotel in Penang and renamed it Hydro Hotel Penang.

The family also owns a 180-room hotel in Kunming called the Hydro Hotel Kunming, which is being managed by Mah's brother.

Together with the listed company's hotel business, the Mah family operates over 1,000 rooms.

Although Mah sits on the board of the family business, he is solely involved in the operation of the listed entity.

By Business Times