Gaming tycoon to take Karambunai Corp private

OChen Lip Keong makes offer of 11 sen a share and 3 sen a warrant for resort operator

PETALING JAYA: Karambunai Corp Bhd’s (KCB) largest shareholder Tan Sri Dr Chen Lip Keong ( pix) has initiated an unconditional voluntary takeover offer with an offer price of 11 sen per share and 3 sen per warrant to take the company private.

Chen is the founder of Hong Kong-listed NagaWorld, which holds a casino licence in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, running to 2065, with a guaranteed monopoly to 2035.

According to Karambunai’s filing with Bursa Malaysia, Chen currently holds a 73.41% stake in KCB and 48.43% of its total outstanding warrants.

The offeror is seeking to acquire the remaining 26.59% stake and 51.57% warrants he does not own in KCB.

Chen does not intend to maintain the listing status of the group.

The offer price of 11 sen represents a premium of 29.4% against its five-day volume weighted average price of 8.5 sen.

The stock closed unchanged at 8.5 sen yesterday on 223,700 shares done.

Meanwhile, the offer price of 3 sen per warrant represents a 100% premium over its five-day volume weighted average price of 1.5 sen.

The takeover offer will remain open for acceptance from the posting date for a period of not less than 21 days.

KCB is involved in the leisure and tourism business comprising resort hotel operation and management, golf and country club operation, travel and tour agency, property development and construction.

For the first quarter ended June 30, 2019, it swung into the red with a net loss of RM2.9 million against a net profit of RM977,000 in the previous corresponding period, due to one-off income a year ago.