Broker's take: Phillip maintains 'reject' call on Cogent privatisation bid after Q3 results

PHILLIP Capital is maintaining its advice that investors "reject" Cosco Shipping International's privatisation bid for logistics service provider Cogent Holdings after Cogent announced on Monday its earnings for the third quarter.

Cosco first announced its intention to privatise Cogent on Nov 3 at S$1.02 a share - 10 per cent lower than Phillip's valuation of S$1.12 - before issuing a formal offer on Nov 24.

Phillip analyst Richard Leow said: "Our recommendation remains unchanged - minority shareholders should take partial profit to avoid tying up capital while the offer remains open and to reject the offer."

The remaining capital invested in Cogent will resemble a call option, the broker said.

If the delisting is successful, minority shareholders will receive S$1.02 per share owned, but will still remain shareholders of Cogent - a listed-subsidiary of Cosco, if the delisting fails, the broker added.

Cogent's minority shareholders will have until 5.30pm on Jan 5 to accept the offer.

Cogent shares were trading flat at S$1.010 as at 3.06pm on Tuesday, while Cosco shares were S$0.015 or 2.8 per cent down at S$0.52.