SIAS holds dialogue for CMA shareholders, execs

Singapore

MORE than 200 shareholders of CapitaMalls Asia (CMA) turned up at a dialogue session yesterday with key management executives of CapitaLand to discuss the delisting offer for CMA.

The closed-door event at the Ministry of National Development's auditorium was held at the initiative of retail investors' lobby group, Singapore Investors Association (Singapore) (SIAS).

SIAS president David Gerald said that the dialogue session aimed to provide an "opportunity to shareholders to ask the questions they need to ask so that they can make an informed decision".

Previously, dialogue sessions have been held for other companies including Olam International, the target of a recent takeover offer from Temasek Holdings.

Representing CapitaLand yesterday were group chief executive Lim Ming Yan, chief financial officer Arthur Lang and senior vice-president for investor relations Harold Woo. One of the firm's lawyers from Allen & Gledhill was also present.

Capitaland, which proposed last month to offer $2.22 for every CMA share, has since pared its offer price per share to $2.2025 after CMA shareholders approved a final dividend of 1.75 cents per share for fiscal 2013. It has also shored up its stake in CMA from 65.3 per cent to 70.4 per cent through open market purchases.

Some CMA shareholders have questioned if the offer price is a fair one for CMA, whose net asset value (NAV) per share has grown 38 per cent since its initial public offering (IPO) in November 2009.