Business

Thursday October 29, 2009

Tradewinds shareholders approved proposed acquisition of Bernas


PETALING JAYA: Shareholders of sugar and oil palm plantation company Tradewinds (M) Bhd yesterday approved the proposed takeover of Padiberas Nasional Bhd (Bernas) at RM2.08 per share at an EGM here.

The deal would be valued at RM978.43mil should all the remaining shareholders of Bernas accept the offer following a mandatory general offer.

Tradewinds had proposed to buy a 31.52% stake worth RM308.42mil in Bernas from Wang Tak Co Ltd and a 22.24% stake from Gandingan Bersepadu Sdn Bhd, a company controlled by Tan Sri Syed Mokhtar Al-Bukhary, valued at RM217.56mil.

Gandingan Bersepadu is a major shareholder of Bernas through Budaya Generasi (M) Sdn Bhd, which has a direct 30.79% stake in Bernas. Syed Mokhtar also has a 43% stake in Tradewinds.

Tradewinds chairman Datuk Wira Syed Abdul Jabbar Syed Hassan told a press conference after the EGM that the company’s board of directors unanimously approved the deal with little dissension from shareholders.

“There was no animosity to the deal from any board members, including from the Kuok Group,” he said.

He was referring to a report in a business weekly that two representatives of the Kuok Group on Tradewinds’ board might abstain from voting as they were opposed to the acquisition due to the amount of debt that would be incurred.

Syed Abdul Jabbar said Bernas’ status as a listed company would be maintained.

He said the shareholders of Tradewinds were looking at long-term prospects rather than the short term.

The takeover of Bernas would increase the Tradewinds’ gearing ratio to 2.25 times or over RM3bil, taking into consideration the costs of the acquisition plus the debts of both companies.

“By having Bernas in the group, we’re going to increase turnover from RM1.6bil to over RM4bil and maybe even up to RM6bil in a five-year timeframe,” he said.

Syed Abdul Jabbar said there were plans to bring down the gearing ratio of Tradewinds post-acquisition. “We hope to complete the acquisition in the first quarter of next year.

“And in the following 18 months, we hope to dispose of non-core assets totalling RM330mil and pare down Tradewinds’ stake in Bernas to just over 50%,” he said, adding that this would bring down the gearing to 1.5 times.


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