KUALA LUMPUR (March 25): TA Enterprise Bhd will be taken off the Main Market of Bursa Malaysia next Tuesday (March 30), three decades after being a listed entity, following the privatisation of the company by its major shareholder, stockbroking tycoon Datuk Tony Tiah.

In a bourse filing, the company that made its Bursa debut in 1990, said its entire issued share capital will be removed from the local stock exchange at 9am that day. Trading of the firm’s shares was suspended on March 15.

On Dec 15 last year, Tiah announced that he will acquire all remaining shares in TA Enterprise at an offer price of 65.5 sen. Offer for the stockbroking firm, whose clientele are mostly retail investors, came at a time when retail investment was booming.

The independent adviser for the offer — DWA Advisory Sdn Bhd — said the unconditional mandatory takeover offer for TA Enterprise by the major shareholder was not fair as it was a discount of RM1.60 to RM1.61 or 71.11% to 71.24% to the estimated value of TA Enterprise shares of between RM2.25 and RM2.26 per share, based on a sum of parts valuation.

However, it viewed the offer reasonable as the offer price was higher than the company’s prevailing price in the stock market then, and presented minority shareholders a chance to exit the "illiquid" counter. It thus recommended that shareholders accept the offer.

The takeover by Tiah, who held a 77.7% stake when he made the offer, was extended to March 5 after the lapse of the initial Jan 25 deadline. At the expiry of the offer on March 5, Tiah controlled a 94.42% stake in the company.