NOW that the reality has sunk in on the landmark ruling by the Securities Commission (SC) in raising the threshold for shareholder approval for a takeover of a listed company via the assets and liabilities route, it is time to take stock of the situation and assess the full-on effects of this decision.
On Jan 28, the SC and Bursa Malaysia jointly announced a raising of the threshold for shareholder approval in a listed company disposing of its assets and liabilities to 75% from a bare majority previously. And, that all new asset disposals announced on or after this date would be caught under this new ruling. In other words, the new rules are not retrospective and hence all takeovers under this route prior to this date, such as that of PLUS Expressways Bhd, are not subject to the new rules.