Malaysia’s LTAT bids for Boustead Plantations after rival deal collapses

MALAYSIA’S military pension fund Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera (LTAT) has offered to buy the shares in palm oil firm Boustead Plantations it does not already own for about RM1.1 billion (S$319 million) after a rival deal fell through.

In a statement late on Wednesday (Oct 4), LTAT said it would make an offer for the firm at RM1.55 per share, subject to regulatory approvals, the same price that had been offered by rival Kuala Lumpur Kepong (KLK) for a 33 per cent stake.

LTAT owns around 68 per cent in Boustead Plantations both directly and indirectly via its wholly owned Boustead Holdings. The offer values the company at RM3.47 billion.

Boustead Plantations shares rose 9 per cent to RM1.38 in early trade on Thursday, rebounding from a two-month low in its last session on Monday before trading was halted. Boustead Plantations did not respond immediately to a request for comment on whether it backed LTAT’s offer.

LTAT’s statement came after KLK said its stake purchase deal had been terminated, with Boustead Plantations to return a deposit of RM229.2 million. KLK said a condition to finalise the share acquisition it had announced in August would not be satisfied by the cut-off date of Oct 6, but did not give further details. KLK and LTAT were in talks to restructure the agreed deal so that the pension fund would keep control of Boustead Plantations, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday.

When the deal was announced, KLK said on completion of the stake purchase, it would make a takeover offer alongside LTAT and Boustead Holdings and delist the firm.