Listing of IOI Properties ‘rushed and ill-timed’ (Update)

PETALING JAYA: Shareholders of IOI Corp Bhd now have until Monday to subscribe for shares in IOI Properties Group Bhd.

The plantation giant had on New Year's Eve extended the closing date for applications for the restricted offer shares (ROS) until 5pm on Jan 6, although the listing is still set for Jan 15. 

StarBiz had reported earlier that minority shareholders of IOI Corp were miffed at the long-awaited listing of the group’s property arm, claiming the process was rushed at the expense of shareholders.

Remisiers told StarBiz they had received numerous complaints from clients scrambling to register their entitlement for IOI Properties, as most of them were away for the holidays or had yet to receive the necessary documents by post.

IOI Corp had said previously that applications for IOI Properties shares under the ROS could be made between Dec 26 and today, or five working days minus the holidays.

The allotment for IOI Properties shares was originally slated for Jan 10, ahead of the listing on Jan 15.

IOI Properties is to be listed by way of a distribution-in-specie and ROS involving 3.24 billion shares to shareholders of IOI Corp.

This entails the distribution-in-specie of one IOI Properties share for every three IOI Corp shares and ROS of one IOI Properties share for every six IOI Corp shares.

Each IOI Properties share has been priced at RM1.76 under the ROS – a 30% discount to the reference price of RM2.51 and an even steeper 74% to IOI Properties’ pro forma net asset per share of RM3.07.

The ex-entitlement or cut-off date for the distribution-in-specie and ROS was Dec 19, meaning investors would have had to own IOI Corp shares by then to get a slice of IOI Properties.

Upon listing, IOI Properties is poised for a market capitalisation of at least RM8.13bil, making it Malaysia’s No. 2 property firm by market value after UEM Sunrise Bhd.

Shareholders of IOI Corp had one week from last Thursday to receive the notice of provisional offer, complete the offer acceptance form and buy the bank draft if they wish to accept their entitlement to the ROS.

Payment by cheque is not allowed.

While the application is downloadable from Bursa Malaysia’s website, a remisier said this put senior citizens at a disadvantage.

“Many of them don’t have access to the Internet. It shows a lack of concern for shareholders,” he said.

Shareholders would have lost out on the ROS if they did not respond within the earlier Dec 26, 2013-Jan 2, 2014 deadline.

A source close to IOI Corp had told StarBiz on Monday that no extension would be granted because the company had made all the necessary announcements and followed standard operating procedure.

“The listing was targeted for November, but some approvals took time and pushed it back to January.

“The dates should not have come as a surprise to shareholders. They have had ample time to get ready since the offer price was fixed on Dec 6,” the person said.

“Bankers and stockbrokers can handle the transaction on behalf of shareholders,” he added.

A remisier, however, disputes this.

“It is easy to say that, but who takes responsibility if something goes wrong? Stockbrokers are not authorised to sign on behalf of clients. We can try to help one or two clients, but not if it involves thousands of ringgit,” he lamented.

IOI Corp had failed to secure the full consent of its bondholders in August for the demerger of IOI Properties, putting a slight hitch in the listing, which was initially scheduled for September.

The matter was eventually resolved after IOI Corp improved the terms of its offer to the bondholders.

“These delays were no fault of the shareholders, so why should they be made to cover for lost time by rushing through the exercise?” asked a stockbroker.