KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 6): Ta Win Holdings Bhd (KL:TAWIN) said its 2022 deal to sell a substantial stake in pharmaceutical manufacturer Royce Pharma Manufacturing was mutually ended because the buyers couldn’t secure financing.
The buyers, majority shareholder Jelita Serbaneka Sdn Bhd and Poly Laboratories Sdn Bhd, were “unable to source the financing for the purchase”, the copper wire and rod maker said in a bourse filing on Monday.
“The board is of the view that the termination of the share sale agreement will not have any material effect on the earnings of the company or the net assets of the group for the financial year ending June 30, 2026,” it added.
According to Ta Win’s initial filing on the deal, Royce Pharma is 54.46% owned by Jelita Serbaneka, followed by Ta Win (33.85%), Farmasi Express (M) Sdn Bhd (11%) and Mohamed Azman Mohamed Ariff (0.68%).
Under the now-terminated deal, Ta Win was to dispose of a 32.5% stake in Royce Pharma to Jelita Serbaneka and Poly Laboratories for RM20.85 million. If the disposal had gone through, the company would still retain a 1.35% stake in Royce Pharma.
The deal was first announced in June 2022. Its completion date underwent several extensions that pushed the deadline to Dec 14, 2024.
When announced, Ta Win said the sale was to focus on its main copper business. The money from the deal was meant for working capital, paying debts and buying machinery.
Ta Win bought its stake in Royce Pharma in 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic to take advantage of healthcare and medicine shortages at that time.
Shares in Ta Win ended unchanged at 1.5 sen, valuing the company at RM41.31 million.