Tong Kooi Ong intends to carry on the existing business of the company, but may consider other opportunities that may come up

 

PAPER manufacturing and building materials distributor Avarga : U09 +14.63% has received an unconditional mandatory general cash offer of S$0.25 per share, it announced in a bourse filing on Monday (Nov 8).

 

The offer was made by a special-purpose vehicle TKO, controlled by Avarga&rsquo s executive chairman, Tong Kooi Ong. TKO has also acquired 183.2 million shares from major shareholder Lim Eng Hock, representing about 20.1 per cent of total issued shares, for S$45.8 million or S$0.25 per share on the same day.

 

This acquisition has pushed Tong&rsquo s control to more than 50 per cent of total issued shares, from about 33.1 per cent prior to the acquisition.

 

The offer represents a 22 per cent premium over the last traded price on Nov 8 of S$0.205, and a 23.8 per cent premium over the volume-weighted average price (VWAP) for the one month period till Nov 8. The premium over the VWAP for the three-month period was 24.3 per cent, for the six month period was 26.5 per cent and the 12-month period was 33.9 per cent.

 

The offeror said the offer represents shareholders with an exit opportunity to realise their holdings in cash at a premium without incurring brokerage and other trading costs.

 

TKO intends to carry on the existing business of the company, but reserves the right to consider options or opportunities that may present themselves. The offeror does not intend to preserve the listing status of Avarga following the completion of the offer, and will exercise its rights of compulsory acquisition.

 

However, if TKO is unable to acquire all the shares or seek a voluntary delisting with the total issued shares held by the public under 10 per cent, it will undertake actions to lift any trading suspensions.