Malaysia's IJM Corp MYX:IJM said on Friday its board has urged shareholders to reject a roughly 11 billion ringgit ($2.80 billion) takeover offer from conglomerate Sunway MYX:SUNWAY, after an independent adviser said the offer price was "not fair and not reasonable."
M&A Securities, an independent adviser to IJM, said the offer price of 3.15 ringgit per IJM share represents a discount of between 46.1% and 51.4% to the estimated value of IJM shares, based on a sum-of-parts (SOPV) valuation, according to IJM's exchange filing. This approach tallies the aggregate valuation of a company's different business segments.
IJM’s board, concurring with M&A Securities, has unanimously determined the offer to be neither fair nor reasonable and accordingly urges shareholders to reject it.
The offer price represents a 14.5% premium to IJM's last closing price at the time the proposal was announced.
A merger would combine two sizeable Malaysian builders and property players, at a time when the sector faces increased competition for scale, financing, and advanced technical capabilities to secure large infrastructure and technology-based projects.
If the transaction goes through, it would rank as Asia’s fourth-largest deal this year, excluding Japan, according to financial services provider Dealogic's data.
Sunway did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Reuters.
($1 = 3.9340 ringgit)