30.12.2009 local business news

CIMB Islamic Bank Bhd, a unit of the CIMB Group (CIMB MK, Buy, TP: RM15.00), has listed a RM2bn Islamic bond programme on Bursa Malaysia to promote the growth of Islamic finance in the country. This makes it the first ringgit sukuk to be listed on the local bourse. "Though not a retail offering as yet, we hope this listing will be a precursor to the development of a vibrant retail sukuk market tradable on Bursa Malaysia," CIMB Islamic chief executive officer Badlisyah Abdul Ghani said. Bursa chief executive officer Datuk Yusli Mohamed Yusoff said CIMB Islamic's sukuk listing signifies the relevance and appeal of Bursa to bigger players in the Islamic finance industry, as well as boosts investor confidence. (BT)
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Primus Pacific Partners Ltd, the major shareholder at the centrestage of a buyout tussle for EON Capital Bhd EONCap), is said to have made a last minute attempt to mount a counter bid to Hong Leong Bank Bhd’s (HLBK MK, Hold, TP: RM8.71) proposed takeover of EONCap. However sources indicated that Primus’ invitation to Temasek Holdings Ltd, which is the Singapore government’s investment arm, was not likely to materialise as Temasek had declined the offer for a joint bid as there was not enough time to do due diligence. Sources indicated that Temasek may also not be keen to get into a bidding war for what is essentially, in global terms, a very small bank whose bottomline is not likely to make a significant impact on its balance sheet. A source said that such a joint bid was not likely to materialise as it was a one-sided idea to protect
Primus which had paid RM9.55 per share (over its closing price of RM6.74 yesterday) for its stake in EONCap early last year. Pricing is said to be key to the success of the talks, as Primus had paid a very high price while Rin and Tiong are believed to have paid only about RM2 per share for their stake in EONCap. Hong Leong’s Tan Sri Quek Leng Chan has not been known to
overpay on his deals that is said to be offering at this juncture only RM5.50 to RM6 per share, which is less than 1.3 times the book value of EONCap. The board of EONCap is expected to meet tomorrow to decide if it wants to be engaged in a takeover talk with Hong Leong. (Starbiz & BT)
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DRB-HICOM Bhd and the US-based General Motors Corp (GM) have mutually agreed to discontinue their two-year-old joint venture to import and distribute Chevrolet vehicles in Malaysia effective Jan 1, 2010. No reasons were given for ending the partnership, DRB-HICOM said it will hold a press briefing today. A Business Times report in September quoted sources as saying that DRB-HICOM would lose the job as local Chevrolet importer as GM was scouting for a replacement, then widely believed to be the Naza group. (BT)
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Green Packet Bhd has fixed the issue price of its proposed private placement of 59.75m shares at RM1.15 per share. Green Packet said the issue price represented a discount of 5.57% to the five-day volume weighted average market price of RM1.2178 from Dec 21 to Dec 28. (Financial Daily)
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Hiap Teck Venture Bhd has entered into an agreement to acquire a 55% stake in dormant company Eastern Steel Sdn Bhd for RM110m cash, gaining access to the latter’s planned blast furnace project and strengthening its position in the steel industry, especially downstream sector. Hiap Teck said it entered into a share sale agreement with Datuk Law Tien Seng, Lau
Chin An and Lee Ching Kion to acquire 80.38m shares, representing a 55% stake in Eastern Steel that they owned. Eastern Steel owns two parcels of land measuring 242.8ha in the Teluk Kalung Estate in Kemaman, Terengganu, Hiap Teck said. The company had obtained approvals from the Malaysian Industrial Development Authority and the Ministry of International Trade
and Industry to set up and commission a blast furnace plant on the land. (Financial Daily)
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Perusahaan Otomobil Kedua Sdn Bhd (Perodua) is confident that its car sales will not be affected following the implementation of the Asean Free Trade Area (Afta) in January. Its managing director DatukSyed Hafiz Syed Abu Bakar said based on the present situation, orders for its latest model, the Alza, have reached 15,000 units this month. "More than 50% of Malaysians have an income of less than RM3,000 monthly. Even with the implementation of the Afta, I do not expect the price of a foreign car to fall, as its manufacturing cost is increasing. Apart from that, local cars are still able to fulfill local consumers' preference," he said. He said even when the Afta is implemented, the current unstable global economy will impact the foreign exchange rate, which is getting higher. (BT)
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Linear Corporation Bhd had clinched a RM1.66bn job to construct and commission a cooling plant in Manjung, Perak. Linear said its wholly-owned subsidiary LCI Global Sdn Bhd had accepted the project awarded by Republic of Seychellesincorporated Global Investment Group Inc on Dec 24, 2009 to build and commission a 350,000 refrigeration tonne (RT) plant for the King Dome project. Linear said a formal contract would be entered into within 180 days of the letter of award, while the duration of work would be 24 months from the date of approval of the development plan by Manjung District Council. (Financial
Daily)
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Ta Ann Holdings Bhd entered a sale and purchase agreement to acquire the entire stake of Europalm Sdn Bhd for RM20.5m. In an announcement to Bursa Malaysia, Ta Ann said its unit Multi Maximum Sdn Bhd had entered into an agreement to acquire 2m shares of RM1 each, representing the entire stake in plantation company Europalm, which has land measuring 1,500ha at Jemoreng Land District, Sarawak. (Financial Daily)
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Malaysia, Asia’s third-most trade-dependent economy, may grow 4% in 2010, helped by government spending. The economy, hit hard by the global economic downturn, is likely to shrink by 2% to 3% in 2009, said Mohamed Ariff Abdul Kareem, executive director of Malaysian Institute of Economic Research (MIER). The economy contracted by 1.2% in the 3Q from a
year ago. Ariff said he expects growth to remain lacklustre for the next two years due to volatile global conditions and rising budget shortfalls. (Financial Daily)