QL’s bid for Lay Hong falls through

PETALING JAYA: QL Resources Bhd's take over offer for Lay Hong Bhd shares was unsuccessful as it fell short of the 50% acceptance threshold.
QL told Bursa Malaysia as at December 10, the closing date for the mandatory general offer, only shareholders with a 5.94% stake accepted the offer, bringing QL's shareholding in Lay Hong to only 39.92%.
"Accordingly, the offeror shall return all the Lay Hong shares which have been transferred into the central depository system (CDS) account of the offeror to the respective holders who have accepted the offer within 14 days from the closing date," it said.
The offer would only be conditional upon 50% acceptance of the voting shares or voting rights of Lay Hong.
The Yap family is still the largest shareholder of Lay Hong, with a 44% stake.
QL launched the takeover offer for Lay Hong to take the latter private for RM3.50 per share, after its sole representative Chia Mak Hooi, failed to be re-elected to the Lay Hong board.
Then QL had said that without board representation, the group is concerned about its ability to safeguard the interests of its shareholders, and realise business synergies between Lay Hong and QL.