A bid by palm oil conglomerate Kulim Berhad to boost its stake in New Britain Palm Oil (NBPO) has ground to a halt after the securities commission of Papua New Guinea, backed by the government, blocked the takeover on the grounds that it would be against national interests.
IC TIP:
Buy
at
452p
Kulim has now taken legal action against the government to have the decision overturned and allow it to complete the partial offer, to which it received 4,888,356 acceptances, representing roughly 3.2 per cent of the total shares in New Britain. Kulim, a 49 per cent shareholder, had originally offered to buy 30 million shares in New Britain at 550p in a bid to snap up a further 20 per cent stake in the company.
