KUALA LUMPUR: Shares of usually sleepy paper box and carton-maker Box-Pak (M) Bhd gained over a third in two days to hit its highest in 14 years yesterday, even as industry sources speak of a potential acquirer.
Tokyo and Osaka-listed Oji Paper Co Ltd (Japan), Japan’s largest paper company by sales, is believed to be the offeror, market sources said.
Box-Pak officials were not available for comment at press time.
Adding 37 sen or 17.6% to close at its day-high of RM2.47 yesterday, Box-Pak gained 33.5% in the two days after the Christmas weekend. The 2.81 million Box-Pak shares that changed hands yesterday were roughly 10 times the 30-day average volume of 284,950 shares and 100 times its five-year daily average volume of 26,700 shares.
Market watchers see Oji Paper — which has bought three Malaysian paper-related companies since 2010 — Genting Sanyen Industrial Paper, United Kotak Bhd, and HPI Resources Bhd — as a likely suitor for Box-Pak.
An offer may come through its wholly-owned Malaysian arm, Oji Paper Asia Sdn Bhd (OPA), the investment holding vehicle that acquired both United Kotak and HPI Resources, one source said.
To recap, Oji Paper in March last year bought 100% of Genting Sanyen Industrial Paper, a paper and packaging company that was formerly part of the Genting group, from private equity firm CVC Asia Pacific for an undisclosed amount.
December last year, OPA acquired United Kotak for RM1.40 per share at 10.9 times price- earnings ratio (PER) and one times price-to-book value (P/BV). In June this year, OPA offered RM4.40 per share for HPI Resources, which translates to 1.48 times book and 8.82 times earnings.
In comparison, Box-Pak’s closing price of RM2.47 yesterday values the company at 9.98 times PER and 1.32 times P/BV. Net assets per share stood at RM1.87 as at Sept 30.
According to Box-Pak’s FY10 annual report, Kian Joo Can Factory Bhd is its largest shareholder with a 54.83% stake, followed by Amanahraya Trustees Bhd with 5.16%. Kian Joo’s shares rose five sen or 2.42% to RM2.12 yesterday, up 31.4% year-to-date.
OPA did not appear to hold any shares in Box-Pak at the time of writing.
OPA’s conditional takeover offer for United Kotak came on Oct 12 last year, but not before the latter’s share price rose 66.6% from an average price of 73 sen in June 2010 to RM1.22 by Sept 30. Similarly, HPI Resources’ share price jumped 27.18% from RM3.09 to RM3.93 in one week leading up to OPA’s offer on June 15.
Notably, though, a July 13 report by The Edge Financial Daily that paper milling and packaging firm, Muda Holdings Bhd, could be Oji Paper’s next takeover target, was denied by Muda the same day.
This article appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, December 29, 2011.
Tokyo and Osaka-listed Oji Paper Co Ltd (Japan), Japan’s largest paper company by sales, is believed to be the offeror, market sources said.
Box-Pak officials were not available for comment at press time.
Adding 37 sen or 17.6% to close at its day-high of RM2.47 yesterday, Box-Pak gained 33.5% in the two days after the Christmas weekend. The 2.81 million Box-Pak shares that changed hands yesterday were roughly 10 times the 30-day average volume of 284,950 shares and 100 times its five-year daily average volume of 26,700 shares.
Market watchers see Oji Paper — which has bought three Malaysian paper-related companies since 2010 — Genting Sanyen Industrial Paper, United Kotak Bhd, and HPI Resources Bhd — as a likely suitor for Box-Pak.
An offer may come through its wholly-owned Malaysian arm, Oji Paper Asia Sdn Bhd (OPA), the investment holding vehicle that acquired both United Kotak and HPI Resources, one source said.
To recap, Oji Paper in March last year bought 100% of Genting Sanyen Industrial Paper, a paper and packaging company that was formerly part of the Genting group, from private equity firm CVC Asia Pacific for an undisclosed amount.
December last year, OPA acquired United Kotak for RM1.40 per share at 10.9 times price- earnings ratio (PER) and one times price-to-book value (P/BV). In June this year, OPA offered RM4.40 per share for HPI Resources, which translates to 1.48 times book and 8.82 times earnings.
In comparison, Box-Pak’s closing price of RM2.47 yesterday values the company at 9.98 times PER and 1.32 times P/BV. Net assets per share stood at RM1.87 as at Sept 30.
According to Box-Pak’s FY10 annual report, Kian Joo Can Factory Bhd is its largest shareholder with a 54.83% stake, followed by Amanahraya Trustees Bhd with 5.16%. Kian Joo’s shares rose five sen or 2.42% to RM2.12 yesterday, up 31.4% year-to-date.
OPA did not appear to hold any shares in Box-Pak at the time of writing.
OPA’s conditional takeover offer for United Kotak came on Oct 12 last year, but not before the latter’s share price rose 66.6% from an average price of 73 sen in June 2010 to RM1.22 by Sept 30. Similarly, HPI Resources’ share price jumped 27.18% from RM3.09 to RM3.93 in one week leading up to OPA’s offer on June 15.
Notably, though, a July 13 report by The Edge Financial Daily that paper milling and packaging firm, Muda Holdings Bhd, could be Oji Paper’s next takeover target, was denied by Muda the same day.
This article appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, December 29, 2011.
