Dataprep minority shareholders advised to reject Wardah takeover

KUALA LUMPUR: Dataprep Holdings Bhd‘s minority shareholders have been advised to reject the takeover offer by Wardah Communication Sdn Bhd as it is significantly lower than the historical market prices.

Independent adviser Mercury Securities said the offer price of 18 sen was a significant discount of 32 sen or 66.7% to the one-year volume weighted average price (VWAP) of 48 sen.

It added the offer price was lower than the closing market prices of Dataprep shares for about 76% of the total market days over the same period.

“The offer price represents a significant discount of between 60% and 66.7% over the fiveday, one-month, three-month, six-month and one-year VWAPs of Dataprep shares up to the LTD,” it said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia.

Mercury Securities said the offer was “not reasonable” as Dataprep shares will likely remain traded on the Main Market of Bursa Securities.

“Considering the liquidity of Dataprep shares, holders should be able to realise their investments at the prevailing market prices in the open market after the closing date (although there is no assurance that Dataprep shares will continue to trade at the current price and volume levels prior to and after the closing date),” it said.

However, it said the offer price of 16 sen was higher than the estimated fair value per Dataprep share, based on the estimated net asset value per Dataprep share of eight sen.

“Premised on the above and the evaluation by Mercury Securities, it is of the opinion that the offer is not fair and not reasonable. Accordingly, Mercury Securities recommends the holders to reject the offer,” it said.