KUALA LUMPUR (May 7): Cycle & Carriage Bintang Bhd’s (C&C Bintang) minorities will have more time to decide to take up the takeover offer of RM2.40 made by controlling shareholder Jardine Cycle & Carriage Ltd (Jardine CCL).

Jardine CCL extended the deadline for its privatisation offer for the second time to May 21. The original closing date was on April 28; it was then extended to May 12.

The takeover offer price of RM2.40 remains unchanged and final, Jardine CCL said via its letter to C&C Bintang. It is Jardine CCL’s second takeover bid, having failed the first time in February 2020 at the offer price of RM2.20.

Interestingly, C&C Bintang's share price spiked up at 4pm today. The stock shot up 59 sen or 24.5% to close at RM3. Trading volume stood at 1.58 million shares — 10 times its 200-day average of 151,400 shares.

The closing price is 60 sen or 25% higher than the offer price of RM2.40. Should the market price be sustained at the current level, it will hinder Jardine CCL’s second attempt to privatise C&C Bintang.

Jardine CCL needs to obtain 90% of the number of shares it did not own at the time when it launched its takeover offer in order to trigger a compulsory share acquisition.

Based on C&C Bintang’s issued share capital of 100.74 million shares, the remainder of 41.2 million shares or 40.9% was not owned by Jardine CCL. This means that the offeror is required to secure 37.08 million shares (36.8%), which will raise its total shareholding to roughly 95.9%.

Jardine CCL’s current shareholding stands at 76.07% or 76.64 million shares with the valid acceptance of the offer. However, it is still substantially below the required level to trigger a compulsory share acquisition.