KUALA LUMPUR (Dec 12): Trading in the shares of Can-One Bhd and Kian Joo Can Factory Bhd has been halted from 9am this morning, pending a material announcement.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia this morning, Kian Joo said trading in its shares was suspended in conjunction with a request for trading halt by Can-One.

Can-One said in a separate statement Bursa has approved the group's securities-trade suspension request for two market days with effect from 9am today to 5pm tomorrow (Thursday, Dec 13, 2018).

The companies had in the past been embroiled in a legal tussle over the proposed disposal of Kian Joo's entire business and undertaking to Aspire Insight Sdn Bhd, a company partly owned by the Employees Provident Fund Board, at RM1.47 billion or RM3.30 per share.

To recap, Kian Joo's former director Datuk Anthony See had filed a lawsuit in May 2014 against its major shareholder Can-One to prevent the latter from voting for the sale of Kian Joo's assets and liabilities to Aspire Insight.

See's legal action was based on the connection between certain directors and Can-One, as Can-One's former chief operating officer Chee Kay Leong owns a 40% stake in Aspire Insight.

The suit was later struck out by the Kuala Lumpur High Court in November 2014, clearing the way for Aspire Insight to proceed with its planned takeover of Kian Joo.

However, in Apr 15, 2016, both parties had mutually agreed to call off the takeover offer, terminating the business sale agreement (BSA), properties sale agreement and assets sale agreement due to a pricing issue.

"The company and Aspire Insight could not come to a conclusion in respect of the price. The conditions precedent in the BSA were not completely fulfilled as it took the company more than a year to resolve the legal suit taken by a former director in relation to the BSA and by then, the valuation of the company is different from that of March 2014," Kian Joo had then said in a statement to Bursa.