Japan Land associate clears hurdle to list on Jasdaq
Posted by luxuryasiahome on October 16, 2008
JAPAN Asia Holdings (Japan) (JAHJ), an associate company of Japan Land, is set to list on Jasdaq via a share swap with ATL Systems on Nov 4, after garnering sufficient shareholders’ support at their respective EGMs yesterday.
It was no show again by tycoon Oei Hong Leong, who holds an effective 9.26 per cent stake in JAHJ and an unknown stake under Oei Hong Leong Foundation (OHLF). Back in Singapore from an overseas trip yesterday, he told BT he was no longer keen to work on this investment.
The resolution for the share swap was passed at both the EGMs of JAHJ and ATL in Japan after receiving sufficient votes under Japanese regulations.
Based on the agreement inked in August, ATL will issue 5.21 new shares to JAHJ shareholders in exchange for every JAHJ share, providing a backdoor listing for JAHJ. The share swap valuation of $450 million represents a premium of about $109.85 million over the net asset value of JAHJ of about $340.15 million.
The newly listed entity will be called Japan Asia Group Ltd. After the share swap, ATL will spin off its current business in software development & research, network maintenance and solutions consultation services into a new private entity.
Japan Land’s EGM on Monday also received majority approval from shareholders, which allows the group to exchange its JAHJ shares with ATL shares. Japan Land owns an effective stakeholding of about 14.13 per cent in JAHJ and would end up with 13.7 per cent stake in the new ATL after the share swap.
Mr Oei had earlier attempted to take over Japan Land, where he has a 4.01 per cent stake, but his offer lapsed last month without sufficient acceptances from Japan Land shareholders.
He told BT that he is not reviewing this investment for the time being. ‘It’s too small an investment,’ Mr Oei said. ‘I’ve tried to make a bid for the shares, so I had to accept the fact.’
On Tuesday, Japan Land posted a $588,000 net loss for the first quarter ended Aug 31 from a net profit of $4.15 million a year ago, due mainly to reduced contributions from its associates JAHJ and Japan Asia Holdings (JAH) as both reported higher expenses.
After exchanging its JAHJ shares with ATL shares, it will no longer equity account for JAHJ. The global slump in stocks worldwide may affect its investment in the new ATL, Japan Land said.
Source : Business Times – 16 Oct 2008
