Ho Wah Genting receives voluntary takeover offer

KUALA LUMPUR (April 28): Ho Wah Genting Bhd (HWGB) has received a notice of conditional voluntary takeover offer from major shareholder Ho Wah Genting Holding Sdn Bhd (HWGH/offeror) to acquire the remaining shares in HWGB not owned by the offeror at 12.5 sen each.

Wire and cable manufacturer HWGB said in a statement to Bursa Malaysia yesterday that the offeror also intends to buy the remaining HWGB warrants at one sen each. HWGB did not provide reasons behind the offeror’s voluntary takeover offer.

"In accordance with Paragraph 3.06 of Take-Overs, Mergers and Compulsory Acquisitions Rules, the board will appoint an independent adviser to advise the non-interested directors and shareholders of the company, on the fairness and reasonableness of the offer. The notice will be served to the holders of the offer securities within seven days of its receipt and a copy is enclosed herewith.

"This announcement is dated April 27, 2020,” said HWGB, which also offers travel-related services.

M&A Securities Sdn Bhd had announced on behalf of the offeror the latter’s intention to undertake the voluntary takeover offer.

In the voluntary takeover offer notice, M&A Securities said the offeror already owns 148.56 million shares representing an approximately 29.38% stake in HWGB. According to M&A Securities, the offeror intends to maintain the listing status of HWGB on Bursa’s Main Market.

The owners of the offeror are Datuk Lim Ooi Hong, Lim Wee Kiat and Datuk Teo Tiew, according to M&A Securities.

At 12.5 sen, the voluntary takeover offer values HWGB at RM63.21 million based on the company’s issued base of 505.71 million shares.

At 11:36am today, HWGB’s share price fell 2.5 sen or 10.87% to 20.5 sen. The company’s latest reported net assets per share stood at seven sen.