KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 16): Lianson Fleet Group Bhd (KL:LFG) and its controlling shareholder have arrived at a lower price tag for the listed company's proposed acquisition of two companies with port operations in Vietnam.
In a statement, Lianson said it has finalised terms for the proposed acquisition of Yinson Port Ventures Pte Ltd (YPVPL) at RM15.8 million and Yinson Premier Ltd (YPL) at RM6.4 million.
The acquisition, to be paid with new Lianson shares, were adjusted downwards after taking into consideration the price-to-book multiples of its peers — most of which also saw decline in market capitalisation in the past year.
The purchase price for Yinson Port Ventures was RM27 million when it was first announced in August 2024, but was subsequently reduced to RM16.9 million before the latest adjustment.
For Yinson Premier, the price tag was RM7 million, but later raised to RM8.7 million prior to the revision announced today.
"The acquisitions mark Lianson Fleet’s expansion into the port infrastructure space, adding a marine port and two warehouses to its growing portfolio," Lianson said in a statement.
The move also deepens the group’s presence within Vietnam and unlocks the way to long term partnerships and further investments in the region, it added.
Yinson Port Ventures holds an indirect stake in the company that operates deepwater ports in the Ba Ria-Vung Tau province in southern Vietnam; while Yinson Premier operates two warehouses with conveyors within the ports' vicinity.
The two companies are owned by Yinson Capital Sdn Bhd, which is in turn indirectly owned by Lim Han Weng and wife Bah Kim Lian.
Lim also holds an indirect stake of 68.5% in Lianson, of which 22.57% is through Bursa-listed Yinson Holdings Bhd.
The corporate exercise is part of the asset injection by Lim for shares in Lianson. Soon after Lim came in as its controlling shareholder having acquired 50.2% stake for RM172.2 million from Ekuiti Nasional Bhd.
Lianson currently operates 21 offshore support vessels and 38 marine transportation assets.
The group's shares closed two sen or 0.9% lower at RM2.21 on Thursday, giving it a market capitalisation of RM2.47 billion.