Jerneh Asia says it received a letter from AmInvestment Bank on behalf of Kuok Brothers, offering to buy the shares not controlled by them in the insurance company.
Kuala Lumpur: Sugar King Robert Kuok Hock Nien has made a bid to gain absolute control of cash-rich Jerneh Asia Bhd.
Malaysia's richest man is using Kuok Brothers Sdn Bhd, a company he founded with two of his brothers in 1949, as the vehicle for the exercise valued at just above RM205 million.
In a late statement to Bursa Malaysia, Jerneh Asia said that it received a letter from AmInvestment Bank Bhd on behalf of Kuok Brothers, offering to buy the shares not controlled by them in the insurance company.
The Kuok Brothers and parties aligned to them, namely PPB Group Bhd, Ophir Holdings Bhd, Dalex Investment Ltd, TYJ Sdn Bhd, Datuk Musa Ayob, Tan Yew Jin and Datuk Lim Chee Wah control 41.81 per cent of Jerneh Asia.
The offer comes just weeks after Sagajuta Sdn Bhd, a Sabah-based developer, pulled out from a reverse takeover exercise involving Jerneh Asia.
The Kuok Brothers are offering RM1.45 apiece for the shares it does not own, and 45 sen a piece for the Jerneh Asia warrants.
The offer is a very small premium to Jerneh Asia's last traded price. Jerneh Asia's mother share closed at RM1.36, while the warrants closed at 40 sen apiece.
In July, Jerneh Asia shareholders had received a RM1.81 net dividend. The dividend was part of the proceeds the company received after selling Jerneh Insurance Bhd for about RM600 million to the ACE INA International Holdings Ltd.
If the Kuok Brothers' takeover offer is successful, it does not plan to maintain the listing status of Jerneh Asia, the offer letter said.
As such, the company in tends to provide an early "window of opportunity" for the remaining shareholders to exit now, as previously the stakeholders were waiting on the Sagajuta deal, and a second dividend payment.
As early as May, the Jerneh Asia board had stated their intention of winding up the company, in the event its corporate exercise did not go through.
The market had been expecting the Kuok family to make a move as over the past four years, the family has been active in shifting their assets, starting with the sale of PPB Group's edible oil and grain assets to Wilmar International Ltd.
This was followed by the RM1.3 billion sale of the sugar refinery business to the Federal Land Development Authority.
The Kuok Brothers' offer comes at a time when many of the country's best companies are also takeover targets.
Among the companies which received takeover offers in the past three months are SP Setia Bhd, Hirotako Holdings Bhd, DXN Holdings Bhd, Sindora Bhd and Aikbee Resources Bhd.
Kuala Lumpur: Sugar King Robert Kuok Hock Nien has made a bid to gain absolute control of cash-rich Jerneh Asia Bhd.
Malaysia's richest man is using Kuok Brothers Sdn Bhd, a company he founded with two of his brothers in 1949, as the vehicle for the exercise valued at just above RM205 million.
In a late statement to Bursa Malaysia, Jerneh Asia said that it received a letter from AmInvestment Bank Bhd on behalf of Kuok Brothers, offering to buy the shares not controlled by them in the insurance company.
The Kuok Brothers and parties aligned to them, namely PPB Group Bhd, Ophir Holdings Bhd, Dalex Investment Ltd, TYJ Sdn Bhd, Datuk Musa Ayob, Tan Yew Jin and Datuk Lim Chee Wah control 41.81 per cent of Jerneh Asia.
The offer comes just weeks after Sagajuta Sdn Bhd, a Sabah-based developer, pulled out from a reverse takeover exercise involving Jerneh Asia.
The Kuok Brothers are offering RM1.45 apiece for the shares it does not own, and 45 sen a piece for the Jerneh Asia warrants.
The offer is a very small premium to Jerneh Asia's last traded price. Jerneh Asia's mother share closed at RM1.36, while the warrants closed at 40 sen apiece.
In July, Jerneh Asia shareholders had received a RM1.81 net dividend. The dividend was part of the proceeds the company received after selling Jerneh Insurance Bhd for about RM600 million to the ACE INA International Holdings Ltd.
If the Kuok Brothers' takeover offer is successful, it does not plan to maintain the listing status of Jerneh Asia, the offer letter said.
As such, the company in tends to provide an early "window of opportunity" for the remaining shareholders to exit now, as previously the stakeholders were waiting on the Sagajuta deal, and a second dividend payment.
As early as May, the Jerneh Asia board had stated their intention of winding up the company, in the event its corporate exercise did not go through.
The market had been expecting the Kuok family to make a move as over the past four years, the family has been active in shifting their assets, starting with the sale of PPB Group's edible oil and grain assets to Wilmar International Ltd.
This was followed by the RM1.3 billion sale of the sugar refinery business to the Federal Land Development Authority.
The Kuok Brothers' offer comes at a time when many of the country's best companies are also takeover targets.
Among the companies which received takeover offers in the past three months are SP Setia Bhd, Hirotako Holdings Bhd, DXN Holdings Bhd, Sindora Bhd and Aikbee Resources Bhd.
