Friday 29 Mar 2024
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KUALA LUMPUR: QL Resources Bhd (QL) has despatched the offer document to all Lay Hong Bhd shareholders to purchase their shares at RM3.50 apiece, after triggering a mandatory general offer (MGO) on Oct 7 by owning more than 33% of the poultry farmer’s shareholdings.

“This offer represents an excellent opportunity for LHB (Lay Hong) shareholders to realise their investment in cash immediately,” QL executive director Chia Mak Hooi said in a statement yesterday.

He added that Lay Hong shareholders should make an “informed decision”.

QL said the offer price of RM3.50 is a premium of 98 sen or 38.89% to the five-day volume weighted average market price of Lay Hong shares before QL announced the takeover offer on Sept 24.

In the statement, Mak Hooi, who is the nephew of QL’s co-founder and managing director Chia Song Kun, said, “While QL’s shareholding in Lay Hong is substantial, we are still a minority shareholder who has been denied a seat on the board and, therefore, unable to contribute and play a role in the growth of Lay Hong which would have mutually benefited minority shareholders. Our intention is to give a good offer to Lay Hong shareholders to realise the value of their investment,” Mak Hooi added.

Lay Hong’s major shareholders, led by the Yap family, had at its latest annual general meeting voted against the re-election of Mak Hooi, who was the sole board representative from QL, without any explanation or prior known conflict.

The Yap family controls almost 38% of Lay Hong, while QL had since raised its holdings from 26.81% before Sept 24 to over 34% as at Oct 15.

“We are aware that some quarters have commented that QL could have saved money by accumulating shares until it triggers an MGO,” Mak Hooi said.

“This action would have compromised everything that QL stands for — integrity and trustworthiness,” he added.


This article first appeared in The Edge Financial Daily, on October 16, 2014.

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