A Dutch Company Is Taking Over OldTown For RM1.47 Billion
The company first made its foray into the Asian market when it purchased Singapore's Super Group.
By John Lim — 12 Dec 2017, 01:15 PM
OldTown Bhd, the owner behind the famous OldTown White Cofee chain, has received a takeover bid from a Dutch company
The Star Online reported that Jacobs Douwe Egberts Holdings Asia NL BV (JDE Asia) made the offer of RM1.47 billion, or RM3.18 a share on 7 December.
The offer was 10.4% higher than the last traded price of RM2.88.
"The offeror (JED) intends to make the offer with a view to delisting and privatising OldTown," CIMB Investment Bank, who is acting on behalf of the Dutch company, was quoted as saying.
The public-listed company said in a statement that its major shareholders owning 51.4% of the shares have given their undertaking to accept the offer
According to CIMB Investment Bank, as a commitment to the takeover offer, JDE has already deposited US$370 million (RM1.51 billion) into an escrow account with a bank in Singapore.
"The escrow fund cannot be released from the account other than for the permitted purposes of paying for the takeover of OldTown," the bank said in its statement.
OldTown group managing director Lee Siew Heng and his board are optimistic about the takeover
"We strongly believe JDE is the ideal partner as we continue to serve best-in-class products to our customers. We look forward to drawing on JDE’s deep global expertise and building a highly successful partnership with them," he was quoted as saying.
JDE Asia is an indirect wholly-owned subsidiary of Jacobs Douwe Egberts BV (JDE), a privately owned company incorporated in the Netherlands
JDE, which is the world's second-largest coffee retailer, made its first foray into Asia last year when it bought over Singapore-listed Super Group for SGD1.45 billion (RM4.37 billion). Similar to OldTown, Super Group specialises in manufacturing and distributing instant coffee and tea.
OldTown was established in 1999 and was listed on Bursa Malaysia in 2011
Under its Old Town White Coffee chain, it manufactures and sells coffee through a 232-strong chain of stores, mostly based in Malaysia with outlets also in Indonesia and Singapore.