KUALA LUMPUR: Tanah Makmur Bhd’s major shareholder, Pahang Crown Prince Tengku Abdullah Al-Haj Sultan Ahmad Shah, has proposed to privatise the company by way of a selective capital reduction (SCR) and repayment exercise.
In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, the oil palm plantation and property development firm said its board received the letter of request from Tengku Abdullah, who owns a 12.77% stake in the company.
In the letter, Tengku Abdullah said he and parties acting in concert with him - including Pahang State Agricultural Development Corp (20% stake) - held 69.9% of the company’s issued and paid-up capital as at April 22.
Under the proposed SCR, Tanah Makmur will reduce the par value of its shares from 50 sen to 25 sen, thus creating additional share premium reserve. A bonus issue is also proposed, as the number of Tanak Makmur shares to be cancelled is higher than the existing issued and paid-up capital.
On completion of the proposed SCR, all Tanah Makmur shares held by the entitled shareholders would be cancelled and they would receive RM1.80 per share, or a total repayment of RM285.13mil.
All the remaining shares not cancelled will continue to be held by the non-entitled shareholders, including Tengku Abdullah and the Pahang State Agricultural Development Corp.
Tanah Makmur would then apply for a de-listing.
On the rationale, Tengku Abdullah said the proposed SCR gave entitled shatreholders the opportunity to realise their investments in Tanah Makmur at a premium ranging from 22.45% to 30% over the market prices over a six-month period to April 22.
Tanah Makmur, whose share trading was suspended on Monday, was last traded at RM1.47 on Friday. Trading resumes on Tuesday.
“The trading liquidity of Tanah Makmur shares has also been low, with an average daily volume of approximately 0.498 million Tanah Makmur shares and an average monthly trading volume of approximately 9.559 million Tanah Makmur shares since its listing on the Main Market of Bursa Securities on July 17, 2014,” he said.
“The average daily trading volume and average monthky trading volume mainly represent 0.42% and 8.03% of the free float as at April 22, 2016, respectively.”
Tanah Makmur said the board, save for the interested directors, would deliberate on the proposed SCR and decide on the next course of action.
Tanah Makmur has its roots in Kurnia Setia which was taken private in 2010.