KUALA LUMPUR (Oct 1): Yinson Holdings Bhd (KL:YINSON) said discussions over its potential privatisation remain ongoing, with no firm decision on whether a deal will proceed, according to group chief executive officer Lim Chern Yuan.
“We’re still in discussion, which we have announced,” he told The Edge on Thursday. “Whether we will sign or not, we don’t know as well. Because we are still in talks.”
Chern Yuan was speaking alongside Yinson executive chairman Lim Han Weng after the signing of a memorandum of understanding between Yinson GreenTech and Langkawi Port Sdn Bhd for an electric ferry project linking Langkawi and Kuala Perlis.
His comments come more than a month after Yinson disclosed that its major shareholder, Yinson Legacy Sdn Bhd, was in preliminary and exploratory discussions with MISC Bhd (KL:MISC), the Employees Provident Fund (EPF) and other stakeholders over a potential privatisation.
Yinson Legacy is an investment vehicle linked to Han Weng and his family. An indicative offer price of RM2.35 per share was disclosed on Aug 28, confirming The Edge’s report a day earlier that the founding family was in talks to take the group private.
In a subsequent filing dated Sept 25, MISC said discussions remained ongoing and the indicative price was unchanged at RM2.35 per share. The filing also outlined that MISC and Yinson Legacy would acquire the remaining shares covered by the proposal, representing approximately 55.20% of Yinson’s issued share capital.
Upon completion, MISC and Yinson Legacy would hold equal interests in Yinson, while the EPF would retain its existing effective shareholding.
The proposed privatisation would be undertaken through a scheme of arrangement under Section 366 of the Companies Act 2016. However, MISC said the proposal remained subject to further evaluation and negotiations, the execution of definitive agreements, determination of the final offer price and requisite approvals.
Yinson owns a fleet of eight floating, production, storage and offloading (FPSO) vessels and other assets across Southeast Asia, South America and Africa. MISC, a unit 51% owned by national oil company PETRONAS, has six FPSOs and six other vessels in Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Brazil.
At Thursday’s event, Yinson GreenTech outlined plans to provide two fully electric passenger ferries under a charter arrangement with Langkawi Port, which would operate the service.