KUALA LUMPUR: Ekovest Bhd has launched a mandatory general offer (MGO) for PLS Plantations Bhd at 95 per share and 15 sen for each warrant.
Ekovest, in a brief filing with Bursa Malaysia today, said the MGO followed its proposed acquisition of an additional 24.54 per cent PLS stake on Thursday.
The 24.54 per cent has raised Ekovest's stake in PLS to 57.38 per cent.
PLS has close to 45,000ha of plantation land in Johor, of which about 600ha is planted with durians.
In an interview with the New Straits Times on Thursday, Ekovest executive chairman Tan Sri Lim Kang Hoo said it was expanding the durian business.
He expected the durian segment to overtake PLS' oil palm plantation earnings in the next three to five years.
"We will produce durian-based products, pulp and paste, as well as sell fresh durians around the world. We are investing in this as we believe that it will be lucrative and having long term recurrent incomes.
"Durian trees have longer survival rates of about 200 years before any replanting is required as compared to oil palm which needs replanting when it reaches about 35 years.
"However the setback is durian trees take about five to seven years to start yielding. During the interim period, what we are doing is planting other crops," Lim said.
Meanwhile, Ekovest earlier said in announcement on Thursday that despite the MGO, it wanted to maintain the listing status of PLS on Bursa Malaysia's Main Market.
Ekovest entered into agreements with three PLS vendors to buy the 24.54 per cent stake or a total of 89.1 million shares together with 78.3 million warrants for a total RM85.8 million.
The company entered into three separate conditional share purchase agreements with its managing director Tan Sri Lim Keng Cheng, Limbongan Resources Sdn Bhd and Lim Seong Hai Holdings Sdn Bhd.
For the year ended June 30, 2020 (FY 2020), Ekovest registered a revenue of RM1.27 billion, or 5.02 per cent lower than the RM1.34 billion recorded in FY2019.
This was due to lower construction work recognised for DUKE Phase 3 and the River of Life projects as a result of the Movement Control Order imposed on March 18 this year.