Armed Forces Fund Board says will buy up remaining 33pc shares in Boustead Plantations

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 10 — Lembaga Tabung Angkatan Tentera (LTAT) has issued a notice on unconditional mandatory takeover offer for all the remaining shares in Boustead Plantations Bhd (BPlant) that are not already held by LTAT for a cash price of RM1.55.

In a statement today, LTAT said the exercise was taken after the signing of the unconditional share sale agreement with Boustead Holdings Bhd (BHB) to acquire 739,199,966 BPlant shares representing approximately 33 per cent of the total issued shares of BPlant.

“Following the above-mentioned acquisition, LTAT holds 976,406,066 shares in BPlant, representing 43.59 per cent of the total issued shares of BPlant,” it added.

LTAT said the offer represented a significant step forward in its overall restructuring and turnaround of the BHB group of companies and in rebalancing its investment portfolio to better position the fund vis-à-vis the risk-return profile.

“The offer also provides LTAT greater flexibility in setting the strategic direction of BPlant and accelerating the value creation plans that meet the objective of LTAT.

“The fund remains steadfast in enhancing its asset quality to provide sustainable returns to its contributors, in line with the LTAT Strategic Plan 2023-2025,” it added.

In a filing with Bursa Malaysia today, BPlant said it has received a notice of unconditional mandatory take-over offer from the joint principal advisers, UOB Kay Hian Securities (M) Sdn Bhd and Maybank Investment Bank Bhd, to acquire all the remaining ordinary shares in BPlant not already held by LTAT.

“The offeror (LTAT) does not intend to maintain the listing status of BPlant. As such, the offeror will not be taking any steps to address any shortfall in the public shareholding spread of BPlant in the event BPlant does not meet the Public Spread Requirement after the closing date,” the notice said.

It said the closing date shall not be later than the 60th day from the posting date as the offer was not conditional upon any minimum level of acceptance.

It added that LTAT has confirmed that it has sufficient financial resources to satisfy full acceptance of the offer and that the offer would not fail due to insufficient financial capability. Every accepting holder would be paid fully in cash, it said. — Bernama