Kingboard Copper Foil's controlling shareholder launches 2nd privatisation bid
S$0.60-a-share offer higher than the $0.40 - deemed as not fair nor reasonable - it had offered shareholders two years ago
Singapore
EXCEL First Investments is making a fresh attempt to privatise Kingboard Copper Foil Holdings.
It offered on Thursday S$0.60 each in cash for shares of the Hong Kong-based, mainboard listed company that it does not already own, with a view to delisting it.
This follows an attempt two years ago which failed after independent financial advisers and company independent directors advised shareholders to reject the offer of S$0.40 a share because they deemed it to be neither fair nor reasonable.
The offeror is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hong Kong listed Kingboard Laminates Holdings, which, in turn, is 70.93 per cent owned by Hong Kong-listed Kingboard Holdings. The parent company manufactures and sells laminates, printed circuit boards, chemicals and magnetic products, and is also involved in property development and investment.
The offeror has an 87.96 per cent direct and indirect combined stake in Kingboard Copper Foil.
At S$0.60, the offer price is a 25.3 per cent premium to the volume-weighted average price of the shares for the three-month period prior to the offer on Thursday. It is 32.5 per cent higher than the volume-weighted average price in the last 12 months.
The company's net asset value as at end-2018 was 380.27 HK cents (about S$0.656) per share.
The offeror plans to exercise its right of compulsory acquisition if it succeeds in its offer, which is unconditional.
It said that it is undertaking the offer to facilitate management and operational control over Kingboard Copper Foil. On completing the offer, it plans to do a strategic and operational review to help the company attain synergies, scale, cost efficiencies and growth potential.
Furthermore, a delisting will enable the offeror, together with the management of the company, to have a longer horizon to plan its business. It will also eliminate listing related expenses which can be channelled towards its business operations.
Kingboard Copper Foil manufactures and trades polyvinyl butyral and related products.
Its shares closed at a nine-year high of S$0.55 before a trading halt on Monday.
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