Goldis offers to buy rest of IGB for RM3 a share

PETALING JAYA: Private equity investment house Goldis Bhd yesterday offered to pay IGB Corp Bhd shareholders RM3 a share, in either cash or a combination of cash and shares in Goldis, in a bid to delist IGB and make it a wholly owned subsidiary.
The offer is a 19% premium to IGB’s share price which last traded at RM2.52 yesterday, while Goldis’ illiquid shares closed unchanged at RM2.50 apiece.

Goldis said the move is to eliminate its holding company discount on IGB.
IGB is currently a 73.43%-owned subsidiary of Goldis.
Goldis explained the strategic initiative will provide it with greater liberty to plan and decide on the strategic and business directions of IGB, and therefore increase its investments in a profitable group.
Moreover, both Goldis and IGB are currently required to comply with the listing obligations prescribed by Bursa Malaysia Securities for listed issuers, representing an overlap of administrative efforts and costs.
The proposed delisting of IGB arising from the proposed scheme is expected to eliminate such overlap, dispense with expenses in maintaining the listing status of IGB and redivert resources towards its core business.
Goldis detailed three options available to shareholders of IGB – cash; 30% cash + 70% Goldis shares; or 20% cash + 80% new redeemable convertible preference shares of Goldis. Shareholders with less than 100 IGB shares will be offered cash only.
Goldis plans to rename itself IGB Bhd, which stands for Ipoh Goldis Bersatu, should the scheme go through.
Goldis made a fourth quarter ended Dec 31, 2016 net profit attributable to owners of the parent of RM16.289 million compared with RM28.23 million for the corresponding quarter in 2015 on higher administrative expenses. This was on lower revenue of RM312.19 million, for the quarter compared with RM314.76 million previously.
Net profit attributable to owners of the parent for the full year ended Dec 31, 2016, however, was higher at RM165.03 million, compared with RM109.11 million for the same period in 2015. This was despite revenue for the period being lower at RM1.26 billion, compared with RM1.28 billion for the same period in the year before.