Getting a grip on Hap Seng Plantations’ aborted Kretam deal

Without the Kretam deal, Voon expects Hap Seng Plantation

In the hey days of the market in the 1990s, public viewing galleries will cheer every time when they see Kretam Holdings Bhd’s (Kretam) share price move along with other market darlings of the yesteryear. They would say in the Malay language, “Ketam mari, Ketam mari”, as in the stock is having an upward run and it’s time to “jump in.”

Recently, Kretam was again in the limelight, both rightly and wrongly. Rightly, as Hap Seng Plantations Holdings Bhd (HSPB) had entered into a conditional share sale agreement (SSA) with the existing largest shareholders of Kretam, representing approximately 55% of the issued and paid-up capital of the company at RM0.92 per share on Feb 21, 2018.