Discover more from Asia Sentinel
The "battle" between SP Setia & PNB, another turn
Subsequently, PNB and the Board of Directors of SP Setia started negotations:
http://cgmalaysia.blogspot.com/2011/12/stock-options-and-bonuses-to-entice-sp.html
"Permodalan Nasional Bhd (PNB) may be paying out lucrative bonuses and stock options to property developer SP Setia Bhd’s top management staff in order to persuade them to stay on with the company following an offer by PNB to increase its stake in the property developer."
However, minority investors, holding 55% of the shares of SP Setia, did not get a chance to be involved in these negotiations at all, they were completely sidelined.
A deal was struck and a new offer was proposed on January 20, 2012:
It turns out that PNB has increased its offer price by a measly 5 cent or 1 percent (in the mean while, the share market has increased much more since the last offer made), and that Tan Sri Liew (the CEO who received a put option from PNB to dispose his shares) switched sides and is now suddenly a joined offeror.
An offer price of RM 3.90 fundamentally undervalues the company, but an offer price of RM 3.95 is suddenly "fair and reasonable"? The share price of SP Setia traded several months in 2011 above RM 4, shareholders who didn't sell at that price are now supposed to accept this offer?
It will be interesting to read the offer document, both the opinion of the Board of Directors, and the independent advice.
This is what MSWG wrote about the revised offer:
MSWG's COMMENT: The original offer by PNB was unanimously rejected by the Board (except for interested directors) led by LKS, as the offer was deemed “fundamentally undervalued”. The property developer said it would seek rival bidders. Does the Board consider the revised, lightly adjusted offer prices fair given that: 1) it deemed the previous offer “fundamentally undervalued”, and 2) the Bursa Malaysia Properties Index closed at 839.06 points on the date the original offer was received and has since appreciated 21% to close at 1012.48 points on the day the revised offer was received?
Besides the above issues, there is also the matter of increasing nationalisation and crowding out of the private sector:
http://cgmalaysia.blogspot.com/2011/10/towards-nationalisation-and.html
The way this whole exercise has been conducted looks very disappointing given the parties involved: a large Government Linked Investment Company and one of the "blue chips".