KOTA BARU: The sale of Ekuiti Nasional Bhd's (Ekuinas)'s 50.2 per cent controlling interest in Icon Offshore Bhd to Singapore-based Liannex Maritime Sdn Bhd for RM172.7 million is deemed to be nothing more than an inappropriate and hasty act.
Parti Pribumi Bersatu Malaysia (Bersatu)'s supreme leadership council member Datuk Mohamed Farid Mohamed Zawawi said the decision was also against the founding principles of Ekuinas itself.
He said it was baseless when an investment that has given such high returns year after year is sold at such a low price.
"As reported in the online news recently, Icon Offshore Bhd has given a return of more than RM500 million since more than 10 years ago.
"So it is unfounded, that an investment that has given such high returns year after year is sold at the price.
"Based on the current market, the share price of Icon Offshore is at the level of RM 0.78 per share. This is much lower than the price of RM 4.00 per share that was achieved in 2020.
"There seems to be something wrong with this transaction. First, the sale of stocks at low and desperate prices in a fairly sluggish market right now.
"Second, the sale of Bumiputra companies to non-Bumiputras and thirdly, the local bank provides a loan to complete the purchase," he said in a statement.
Farid, who is Kok Lanas assemblyman, hoped Ekuinas and the Government would explain the real reason why Icon Offshore was sold as well as the explaination about Affin Bank led a corporate loan of RM 2.4 billion to Yinson, the buyer of the Icon Offshore shares from Ekuinas.
It was reported that Ekuinas special purpose vehicle Hallmark Odyssey Sdn Bhd has sold its 50.2 per cent controllilng interest in Icon Offshore Bhd to Singapore-based Liannex Maritime Sdn Bhd for RM172.7 million.
Liannex Maritime is privately owned by energy infrastructure company Yinson Holdings Bhd chairman and major shareholder Lim Han Weng.
The stake was sold to Liannex Maritime on Marcy 26 via a direct business transaction at 63.5 sen a share.
The deal triggers a mandatory general offer, which will see Liannex offering 63.5 sen a share and RM0.001 an offer warrant for the remaining shares and warrants in Icon Offshore.
Hallmark has provided an irrevocable undertaking not to accept the offer for the remaining 5.8 per cent interest it owns in Icon Offshore.
Ekuinas CEO Datuk Syed Yasir Arafat Syed Abd Kadir said in a statement said the decision to divest its majority stake in Icon was carefully premised on the current favorable market conditions coupled with the rare opportunity for Ekuinas to pass the baton to a highly credible and committed investor.
With the investor's track record and financial stability in the O&G industry, Ekuinasconsider the transaction to be a win-win opportunity, mutually beneficial for both Ekuinas and Icon shareholders.
Syed Yasir said this strategic divestiture is certainly a reflection of our commitment to maximise shareholder value and one that leaves ICON in capable hands to chart their next level of growth.
Following a debt restructuring exercise in 2018, Ekuinas reinvested in Icon Offshore to ensure the continued sustainability of its business.
At the end of FY2023, Icon completed a capital reduction and share consolidation exercise, effectively eliminating its retained losses and consolidating its shares by a factor of five times.
The statement said Ekuinas has made cumulative gains of over RM500 million throughout its more than 10-year holding period in Icon Offshore.
"This places Ekuinas as one of the few investors within the oil and gas sector to successfully realise its investment," it said.Icon Offshore is an offshore support vessel (OSV) provider in Malaysia and Southeast Asia.
It primarily serves the Malaysian and Brunei coasts and has a total of 19 active OSVs.