Datuk Tony Tiah Thee Kian, who recently launched a mandatory general offer (MGO) at 66 sen per share for TA Enterprise Bhd, has been busy buying shares from the open market.
KUALA LUMPUR: TA Enterprise Bhd's (TAE) minority shareholders have been advised to reject the takeover offer by Datuk Tony Tiah Thee Kian as the offer of 66 sen share is not fair and not reasonable.
Independent adviser BDO Capital Consultants said on Thursday the offer was not fair and not reasonable and accordingly, "we advise and recommend that holders to reject”.
BDO said based on the unaudited consolidated results of TAE as at March 31, 2018, the estimated fair value of the entire equity interest in TAE is about RM4.438bil to RM4.449bil which translates into an estimated fair value per share of RM2.59 to RM2.60. “
“The offer price of 66 sen is lower than and represents a significant discount of RM1.93 to RM1.94 or 74.5% to 74.6% to the estimated fair value per Offer Share of RM2.59 to RM2.60,” it said.
On July 2, the TAE board of directors announced it had received the notice from TA Securities on behalf of the offeror to acquire all the remaining ordinary shares in TAE not already held by the offeror and parties acting in concert at 66 sen per share.
Tiah and his wife Datin Alicia Tiah co-founded the company in the 1990s.
He sought to further strengthen his grip on TA Enterprise but analysts said the mandatory general offer at 66 sen per share was seen to have significantly undervalued the assets of the company.
StarBiz reported that at only 0.45 times its book value, the offer price was unattractive, even though it may offer an exit opportunity for some investors who have acquired TA Enterprise’s shares at very low prices.
TAE 's non-interested directors Zainab Ahmad, Datuk Seri Mohamed Abid, Peter U Chin Wei, Christopher Koh Swee Kiat and Datin Rahmah Mahmood have concurred with the evaluation and recommendation of BDO CC that the "offer is not fair and not reasonable".
“Accordingly, the non-interested directors recommend the holders to reject the offer. However, the decision to be made would rest entirely on the individual risk appetite and specific requirements of the holders,” they said.
