Plantation firms Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd. and Boustead Plantations Bhd. suspended trading in Malaysia’s stock exchange Tuesday, following a local news report that a 1.15 billion ringgit ($244 million) deal for KLK to acquire stakes in the latter had fallen through.
(Bloomberg) — Plantation firms Kuala Lumpur Kepong Bhd. and Boustead Plantations Bhd. suspended trading in Malaysia’s stock exchange Tuesday, following a local news report that a 1.15 billion ringgit ($244 million) deal for KLK to acquire stakes in the latter had fallen through.
The trading was halted pending an announcement from Boustead Plantations, the two firms said in separate filings. This came a day after Boustead Plantations’ share price fell as much as 20%, prompting the local bourse to suspend trading in the company’s shares mid-Monday.
The Edge reported Tuesday that KLK’s proposed purchase of a 33% stake in Boustead Plantations fell through, citing unidentified sources. The deal was supposed to be finalized by Oct 6, with the deadline already extended twice, according to the report.
The stake would have allowed KLK, the country’s third largest palm oil planter, to eventually make a mandatory general offer for the remaining minority shares of Boustead Plantations, becoming its largest shareholder. The proposed acquisition comes shortly after the privatization of Boustead Plantations’ parent — Boustead Holdings Bhd. — by Malaysia’s Armed Forces Pension Fund earlier this year.
Read: Malaysia’s KLK to Buy 33% of Boustead Palm Unit for $248 Million
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