Global Palm Resources privatisation offer closes with 93.1% valid acceptances
Add BT as a preferred source
Ry-Anne Lim
THE voluntary unconditional cash offer for Global Palm Resources (GPR) closed on Wednesday (May 31), with the offeror receiving valid acceptances representing approximately 93.1 per cent of the total number of issued shares.
The palm oil producer’s chief executive Suparno Adijanto, along with his six family members, had in March launched an offer of S$0.25 per share for all the issued and paid-up ordinary shares in GPR to take it private. This was done through an investment vehicle, ATH Holdings, of certain members of the Adijanto family and the holding company of GPR.
The offer closed at 5.30 pm on Wednesday.
With the close of the offer that saw valid acceptances of over 90 per cent, the offeror is entitled to and intends to compulsorily acquire all the shares of dissenting shareholders, before delisting the company.
The Adijanto family had said in a previous filing that the offer provides shareholders with an opportunity to liquidate and realise their investment at a premium to prevailing trading prices.
It added that delisting GPR will provide greater control and management flexibility to improve efficiency and competitiveness, while also allowing the company to “substantially dispense with” the burden of compliance costs relating to its listing status.
Navigate Asia in
a new global order
Get the insights delivered to your inbox.
Earlier in May, the Securities Investors Association Singapore (Sias) had urged minority shareholders to reject the privatisation offer.
The investor watchdog believed the offer was “clearly wholly unsatisfactory” and disagreed with the evaluation of the independent financial adviser, Provenance Capital, that the offer was “fair and reasonable”.
Sias also noted that during GPR’s initial public offering in 2010, the company listed at the price of S$0.46 per share. This was a 118 per cent premium over its net asset value (NAV) at the time. The current offer price of S$0.25 per share represents a 22 per cent discount to the current revalued NAV of around S$0.32.
GPR shares finished 2 per cent or S$0.005 higher at S$0.25 on Wednesday, before the announcement.
Decoding Asia newsletter: your guide to navigating Asia in a new global order. Sign up here to get Decoding Asia newsletter. Delivered to your inbox. Free.
Copyright SPH Media. All rights reserved.
