KUALA LUMPUR: MKH Oil Palm (East Kalimantan) Bhd’s independent adviser has recommended that shareholders reject Whitmore Holdings Sdn Bhd’s mandatory takeover offer of 66.26 sen per share, saying the offer is “not fair and not reasonable”.
MainStreet Advisers Sdn Bhd, which was appointed by MKH Oil Palm’s board to evaluate the offer, said the offer price represented a RM0.5974 or 47.4% discount to the company’s revalued net asset value (RNAV) of RM1.26 per share.
Based on the RNAV methodology, MainStreet estimated MKH Oil Palm’s total equity value at about RM1.28bil.
It said the 66.26 sen offer price was 59.74 sen below the RNAV per share, leading it to conclude that the offer was “not fair”, despite the price being at a premium to MKH Oil Palm’s historical market prices over several periods.
MainStreet also deemed the offer “not reasonable”, as Whitmore and its parent Batu Kawan Bhd
intend to maintain MKH Oil Palm’s listing on the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia.
It said shareholders who do not accept the offer would still have the opportunity to trade their shares on the open market after the offer closes, subject to MKH Oil Palm maintaining the required public shareholding spread.
Whitmore and Batu Kawan also do not intend to compulsorily acquire the remaining shares even if the threshold for compulsory acquisition is met.
MKH Oil Palm’s non-interested directors concurred with MainStreet’s assessment and also recommended that shareholders reject the offer.
Whitmore, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Batu Kawan, is offering 66.26 sen cash per share for all remaining MKH Oil Palm shares not already held by the offeror, Batu Kawan and persons acting in concert with them.
The offer is unconditional as Whitmore, Batu Kawan and persons acting in concert with them already collectively hold more than 50% of MKH Oil Palm’s voting shares.
The offer is scheduled to close at 5pm on Sept 17, 2026.
