SMG’s Matang deal nixed despite more minorities support

Results by polling at SMG EGM

PETALING JAYA: Shareholders of Star Media Group Bhd (SMG) have voted against the company taking a 13% stake in plantation company Matang Bhd at an EGM yesterday.

However, the majority of the minority shareholders voted in favour of the deal.

Being a related-party transaction, MCA and Huaren Holdings Sdn Bhd abstained and could not vote on the deal.

In the final poll, 109 shareholders voted for the deal versus 93 against.

This has denied SMG a potential incremental pro-forma profit of RM15.6mil or approximately two sen per share.

This also would have been an opportunity for SMG to own a substantial stake in an established company.

SMG group chief executive officer Alex Yeow said: “I am sad that the resolutions will not be carried out.

“But it’s good to know that after the clarification from us during the Q&A session, more minority shareholders understood the actual situation,” he said.

Shareholders decided against the media company selling property assets for RM33mil to Matang, which will see an allotment and issuance of its shares to the media company.

The vote was conducted via an online poll of shareholders.

Under the now scuttled move, SMG would have received 357 million new shares in Matang issued to SMG at an issue price of 8.09 sen per share, as well as a cash payment of RM4.12mil.

SMG was expected to hold 13% of the total enlarged number of shares in Matang after such issuance and was projected to make a net pro-forma gain of about RM15.6mil from the disposal.

Had shareholders approved the deal, Matang would have bought property assets from SMG as part of its plan to diversify its business into property investment.