MALAYSIA state-owned Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) has announced it intends to offer MYR5.3 per share to buy out its shipping arm MISC Bhd i
Petronas to buyout MISC shareholders with US$2.8 billion, then de-list
MALAYSIA state-owned Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas) has announced it intends to offer MYR5.3 per share to buy out its shipping arm MISC Bhd in a deal worth MYR8.8 billion (US$2.8 billion), reports the Malaysia Star.
Petronas currently owns 62.67 per cent or 2.797 billion shares of MISC. If the buyout is successful, Petronas said it would result in the national oil company holding at least 90 per cent and having MISC as a private company, no longer listed on the stock exchange.
But Petronas said it had "no intention of making a separate takeover bid for MISC's listed subsidiary Malaysia Marine and Heavy Engineering Holdings Bhd (MMHE)," of which MISC owns 66.5 per cent.
The buyout scheme is one of the biggest such initiatives in recent years. "We are caught by surprise by the privatisation of MISC," said MIDF Amanah Investment Bank research chief Zulkifli Hamzah.
"The decision to de-list MISC reflects the stance of the controlling shareholder that the market is not doing justice to the valuation of the company. Taking the company private could be a precursor to more corporate actions involving MISC," he said.
