PETALING JAYA: Gateway Development Alliance Sdn Bhd (GDA) has announced that its takeover offer of Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd
(MAHB) has garnered an effective 84.12% holdings as of 5pm yesterday.
That was the original time frame the consortium – together with associates Pantai Panorama Sdn Bhd, Kwasa Aktif Sdn Bhd and GIP Aurea Pte Ltd – gave themselves to achieve a 90% acceptance rate, a condition of the voluntary offer.
GDA and MAHB announced earlier in the week an extension of the time line to Jan 17 for the Khazanah Nasional Bhd-led group, which also includes the Employees Provident Fund, to fulfill the condition.
In another filing with Bursa Malaysia yesterday, GDA said the total percentage of shares held by itself and its associates are at 83.04%, with another 1.09% of shares having been transferred to the purchasing group but are pending receipt of acceptance documents.
GDA is offering a price of RM11 per share, sparking debates on whether shareholders of MAHB should accept the deal, with observers throwing up differing opinions.It is known that sector analysts, independent valuers and investors have largely recommended taking the offer, and judging by how affairs are going at present, it is looking likely that the de-listing of MAHB could come to pass.
Non-independent directors of the group on the other hand, have made a case to turn down the offer, which they had argued to be unreasonable and unfair, due partly to the fact that MAHB had embarked on a relatively strong post-lockdown recovery without having been taken private.
It is also noted that while MAHB could of course return to be publicly traded some time in the future if it were indeed delisted, and shareholders who are holding out may hope for a higher selling price then, experts have also outlined that the waiting time for re-listing is uncertain, with minority shareholders risking being outnumbered by GDA easily in major decisions, causing their interest to be diluted.
MAHB’s share price has notably inched closer to the offer price this week, closing 14 sen higher at RM10.78 yesterday.
