PETALING JAYA: 7-Eleven Malaysia Holdings Bhd’s mandatory general offer (MGO) for Caring Pharmacy Group Bhd at RM2.60 a share is deemed fair and reasonable.
Accordingly, it is recommended that Caring shareholders accept the offer, based on advice from independent adviser Mercury Securities Sdn Bhd.
“The offer is fair in view that the offer price of RM2.60 is higher than and represents a premium of between 10 sen (4%) and 29 sen (12.55%) over the range of estimated value per Caring share,“ Mercury said in its independent advice circular.
It added that the offer is reasonable as it provides an exit opportunity to the shareholders, especially for those holding a significant number of the Caring shares, to realise their investment in the offer shares for cash at the offer price.
7-Eleven’s MGO for the remaining shares it does not own in Caring was triggered after 7-Eleven’s wholly owned subsidiary Convenience Shopping (Sabah) Sdn Bhd and the parties acting in concert proposed to acquire a 25.35% stake in Caring last November, which increased their collective shareholding to 38.57%.
A month later, 7-Eleven said it did not intend to maintain the listing status of Caring if it received enough valid acceptances for the MGO.
The offer will remain open for acceptances until 5pm on March 27.
As at Nov 30, 2019, Caring has a total of 132 community pharmacies and a clinic. The group has embarked on a five-year transformation plan with an objective to exceed RM1 billion in revenue and a vision to have 200 outlets across all cities and major towns in Malaysia by 2024.
