Asia

MISC privatisation bid update

 

Kuala Lumpur: The proposed privatisation of MISC by Petronas might take a bit longer than the energy giant originally thought. On Wednesday MISC was told by the Securities Commission in Kuala Lumpur that it could extend by five days to February 25 its draft independent advice circular (IAC) to the regulator and also the board of directors and shareholders.

MISC added the commision also approved the extension to submit the IAC to the directors and shareholders from March 4 to March 8.

Petronas has offered RM5.30 per share to buy out minority shareholdings in MISC with the intention of taking the latter private.

At midday, MISC's share price was up four sen to RM5.35. 

Meanwhile, Standard & Poor's Ratings Services said its ratings on MISC and Petronas were unaffected by Petronas' proposed conditional takeover.

"The proposed transaction supports our assessment of MISC's strategic importance to its parent Petronas. In addition, the transaction is unlikely to have any effect on Petronas' financial risk profile. Petronas currently owns about 63% of MISC," it said.

Analsyts are not all convinced on the meritis of the sale. M&A Securities, for instance, has recommended that investors reject Petronas' offer to take private the shipping firm since the offer price of RM5.30 was -8.9% below its fair value of RM5.77.

However, UOB KayHian recommended accepting the general offer for short-term investors, although in the longer term, it noted that MISC could benefit from a global cyclical recovery and potential demand for intercontinental transportation of shale gas produced in North America.

Hong Leong Research, meanwhile, advised shareholders to accept the offer.  [14/02/13]

 

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