Based on corporate announcements and news flow on Wednesday (Dec 15), companies in focus on Thursday (Dec 16) may include: Serba Dinamik Holdings Bhd, ATA IMS Bhd, Dialog Group Bhd, Censof Holdings Bhd, Malaysia Airports Holdings Bhd, Allianz Malaysia Bhd, JHM Consolidation Bhd, TH Plantations Bhd, China Automobile Parts Holdings Ltd, Ipmuda Bhd, Advance Information Marketing Bhd and Kamdar Bhd
palm oil fruit
IN the last several years, the Malaysian plantation industry has been buzzing with robust merger and acquisition (M&A) deals against the backdrop of weak crude palm oil (CPO) prices.
With land scarcity also playing a role, the momentum for M&A activities in the plantation sector picked up in 2020 after slowing down slightly a year earlier.
Companies with excess estates sought to dispose of the assets as they had to deal with depressed earnings and unproductive land usage.
On the contrary, companies with excess cash have been buying over these lands at attractive valuations, considering that soft CPO prices have limited the sellers’ ability to bargain for higher land sale prices.
It doesn’t look good when a government agency such as the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) makes an about-turn and withdraws an approval for a company to make an acquisition.
This is just what happened in TH Plantations Bhd’s sale of its two plantation assets Bumi Suria Ventures Sdn Bhd and Maju Warisanmas Sdn Bhd, which own 6,513ha of oil palm plantations in Bintulu and Sibu to Tamaco Plantations Sdn Bhd for RM170 million.
The problem is that Tamaco Plantations was required, based on the guidelines, to establish equity ownership of at least 30% for bumiputera interest within one year from the conditional approval, which was not met.
’s proposal to sell its two plantation companies to Tamaco Plantation Sdn Bhd for RM170mil has been scuttled after the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) withdrew its consent.
In an announcement to Bursa Malaysia on Thursday, TH Plantations said it was informed by Tamaco that the EPU had withdrawn the approval in a letter dated Dec 4, one year after the sales and purchase agreement (SPA) was signed.
It also said the conditions imposed in the EPU approval were being annulled.
It should be noted that TH Plantations staged a turnaround in its financial results for the third quarter ended Sept 30,2020, riding on the strong crude palm oil (CPO) prices.