FRIENDS appear to have become foes at Northeast Group Bhd.

Chong Ewe Hean and Ng Meng Hang, co‑founders of Northeast, have filed to start legal proceedings claiming minority oppression by the company’s managing director, Ng Chay Chin.

According to Northeast’s recent exchange filing, the two plaintiffs are seeking an order for the defendant to generally buy out their stakes in the holding company they jointly own at fair value.

All three individuals are shareholders of Mountain Range Sdn Bhd (MRSB), which holds a controlling 54% stake in Northeast, a Penang-based manufacturer of precision engineering components used in the photonics, electrical and electronics, semiconductor, telecommunications and optoelectronics industries.

Chong holds a 26.7% stake in MRSB and a 3.5% direct stake in Northeast. This gives him a deemed interest of about 18% in Northeast.

Meng Hang’s total exposure is a minority stake of about 1.35% in Northeast after selling much of his 13.5% stake in MRSB during Northeast’s listing on the ACE Market in mid-October 2024.

What triggered the divide remains unclear. However, Chong was ousted as an executive director at Northeast’s AGM in February this year.

The numbers suggest he got no support from Chay Chin when the votes were counted.

Chay Chin holds a 45.3% in MRSB and has raised his deemed interest in Northeast to 58.5% post-listing through purchases of shares via open-market and off-market transactions.

Northeast is a profitable entity with earnings growing from RM13.7mil in financial year 2024 (FY24) to RM20.5mil in FY25.

It posted a RM10.6mil net profit for the first six months of FY26 ending Sept 30.

While disagreements in corporate Malaysia are nothing new, this is a rare instance involving a technology-related company.

Investors must be concerned that the escalation could negatively impact its share price, which is currently about 86% above its initial public offering price of 50 sen.