Shareholders of Japfa have approved a plan to delist the agri-food company from the Singapore stock exchange in a long-awaited privatisation move.
Reportedly in the pipeline since March of last year, a resolution was passed at an annual general meeting in the city-state yesterday (15 April) to take the business private by way of a so-called scheme of arrangement.
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Of the scheme shareholder votes cast, the 75% threshold to pass the resolution was reached, according to a document issued by the Japfa board of directors and signed off by executive director and CEO Tan Yong Nang.
Subject to regulatory approval, it is expected that Japfa’s shares will cease trading on the Singapore exchange on or around 9 May, with a delisting slated for around 3 June.
Shareholders who subscribed to the scheme will receive S$0.62 in cash via a final dividend of S$0.01, which was approved at the AGM, and an adjusted scheme consideration of S$0.61 for each scheme share.
The cash consideration of S$0.62 was deemed as a premium to the average share trading price for Japfa over the past four years.
Japfa said in the document the scheme agreement needs court approval at a hearing targeted for on or around 5 May.
Excluded from the scheme of arrangement due to abstentions were other existing shareholders, otherwise described in the document as “joint offers” or “persons acting or presumed to be acting in concert with the joint offerors in relation to the acquisition and the scheme”.
They were listed as: Rangi Management, Tasburgh Ltd., Morze International, Tallowe Services and Renaldo Santosa.
According to Singapore’s Business Times newspaper, Renaldo and Gabriella Santosa, along with Rachel Anastasia Kolonas, submitted a joint privatisation offer in January.
The publication said yesterday the named Santosas are children of the late Handojo Santosa, Japfa’s former executive chairman and son of the company’s founder, the late Ferry Teguh Santosa.
Kolonas, meanwhile, is the daughter of Japfa’s non-executive director Hendrick Kolonas, who is the uncle of the two Santosa siblings, the newspaper added.
