Through his investment vehicle Towerpack Sdn Bhd, Yeoh has undertaken a takeover of Aluminium Company of Malaysia Bhd (Alcom) after agreeing to purchase a 59.16 per cent stake in the aluminium rolled products manufacturer.
In a filing with Bursa Malaysia, Alcom disclosed that Yeoh, who is the controlling shareholder of Towerpack, had proposed to buy 79.23 million Alcom shares for RM47.72 million (Bt411 million) or 61 sen a share in an all-cash deal.
Yeoh already owns majority stakes in three separate listed entities. He holds a 32.9 per cent stake in aluminium packaging manufacturer Kian Joo Can Factory Bhd and 54.83 per cent in Box-Pak (M) Bhd via his interests in the former.
He is also a substantial shareholder of Can-One Bhd with a 27 per cemt stake.
Yeoh is the group managing director of Kian Joo and Box-Pak and is a Can-One board member.
“The proposed share acquisition represents an opportunity for the offerer to venture into the business of manufacturing and trading aluminium sheets, foil products and pre-coated finstocks in a meaningful way and allows the offeror to exercise management and operational control over the business of Alcom with a view of improving its future performance,” Alcom said in its filing with the exchange.
The entry into Alcom is set to open new avenues for diversification for Yeoh. The company said it was a major supplier of finstock for many of the world’s top air-conditioner manufacturers.
Alcom also produces a wide range of products to be used in a variety of applications such as building facades, signboards, bus bodies, utensils and lightning fixtures, among others.
The offer of 61 sen per share values Alcom at a market capitalisation of RM81.94 million, representing a large discount to the company’s net asset per share of RM1.24 as at March 31.
The company also has a cash pile of RM50.71 million and has zero borrowings, making it an attractive acquisition target.
The takeover attempt is the latest move in what has been an eventful year for Yeoh. Back in May, he had reached an agreement with Kumpulan Perangsang Selangor Bhd to sell a 60 per cent equity stake in the King Koil mattress brand licensing business via Kaiserkorp Corp Sdn Bhd for RM115.9 million.
The share sale and purchase agreement was executed between Towerpack and Novelis Inc, which is the controlling shareholder in Alcom.
It is worth noting that the purchase price of 61 sen represents a 17 per cent discount to Alcom’s closing price in the open market yesterday.
The last time the stock was trading at 61 sen in the open market was on August 18, 2015, or exactly a year ago.
On Thursday, Alcom’s stock closed at 74 sen on light trading volume.
Alcom said that after the completion of the proposed acquisition, Towerpack’s holdings of the voting shares of Alcom would increase from nil to 59.16 per cent .
Under Section 218(2) of the Capital Markets and Services Act, 2007 and Section 9(1) of Part III of the Malaysian Code on Take-Overs and Mergers, 2010, Towerpack will be required to extend a mandatory general offer to acquire the remaining voting shares of Alcom not already owned by Towerpack and persons acting in concert with it at 61 sen per Alcom share.
Yeoh owns 99 per cent of Towerpack, while his sons – Marc Francis Yeoh Min Chang and Keith Christopher Yeoh Min Kit – own the remaining 0.5 per cent stake each in the investment vehicle.
In its latest results for the financial year ended March 31, (FY16), Alcom reported an improved net profit of RM2.57 million on the back of RM287.41mil in revenue.
In comparison, for FY15, the company reported a net loss of RM1.64mil on a revenue of RM279.71 million.

Tevin Vongvanich, chief executive officer of the country’s largest energy conglomerate, said yesterday that the transformation of the energy industry from fossil fuels to renewable energy and electric vehicles, plus the depletion of domestic petroleum resources, would be the two factors that “pull down” the group if it does nothing.
PTT has devised a strategy, comprising “Do Now” for productivity improvement and “Decide Now” for extending growth of its existing businesses, such as by expanding to the electricity value chain, LNG (liquefied natural gas) value chain and regional markets.
“We will seek an opportunity for investment in liquefaction facilities together with PTT Exploration and Production.
“The electricity value chain spans from electricity generation and battery technology to other supporting components such as charging stations” for electric vehicles, he said.
PTT will also have to find a new “S-curve”, but since jumping into new territory would carry risks, the group is embarking on the third part of its strategy called “Shape Now”.
This is for the setting up of Express Solutions, also dubbed “ExpresSo”.
The new business unit aims to stimulate innovation, creativity, the search for new ideas and businesses, and the follow up of evolving technologies and consumer behaviour.
PTT will launch a venture-capital fund to incubate and nurture ideas and invest in potential technologies.
PTT expected to finalise next month its negotiations to purchase more than 3 million tonnes of LNG per year under 10-to-15-year contracts.
Subject to government approval, the move will increase its LNG long-term commitments to more than 5 million tonnes annually from the current 2-million-tonne contract that it had sealed with Qatar.
“There might be a surprise. We have received many good offers,” he said.
Each LNG supplier will deliver about a million tonnes per year to PTT.
The group has postponed the signing of a long-term agreement to buy 2 million tonnes of LNG annually from Shell Eastern Trading and BP Singapore, citing the availability of cheap LNG in the spot market.
PTT will in December seek approval from its board of directors to increase its budget for infrastructure projects such as LNG receiving facilities, and natural-gas and oil transmission systems.
However, the group’s capital-expenditure budget for the next five years will increase only slightly from the current Bt297 billion, since some other projects will be postponed or cancelled.
Nitima Thepvanangkul will become the first female chief financial officer at PTT when she succeeds Wirat Uanarumit, who will move to head PTT’s Upstream Petroleum and Gas Business Group on October 1.
He will replace Pitipan Tepartimargorn, who is retiring.
Both oil and gas prices in the second half of this year are expected to rise from the first half, although PTT’s oil-refining margin is expected to be thinner and petrochemical spreads to be unchanged from the first half, Tevin said.
PTT reported rises of 4.8 per cent in first-half net profit to Bt48.5 billion and 13 per cent in first-half operating profit.
Despite a drop of 23 per cent in sales revenue due to the slump in global oil prices, the energy group saw its earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation decrease by only 3 per cent from a year ago.
PTT executives attributed the strong operating performance to the group’s fully integrated business portfolio.

Former NMG chairman Nittimon Hastindra na Ayudhya yesterday cited his attempt to guard the interests of his company and its minor shareholders, and resist the “illegal” acquisition of NMG shares, by ordering the prohibition of some groups of shareholders from attending and voting in the annual shareholders’ meeting last year.
News Network Corporation had sued the NMG executive for preventing shareholders from attending the general meeting of NMG.
News Network Corp was formerly known as Solution Corner (1998), or SLC.
If the groups of shareholders had attended the general meeting, there would have been resolutions that might have caused damage to NMG, as has been seen in the Securities and Exchange Commission’s move, he said.
The SEC has filed complaints with Economic Crime Suppression Police against News Network Corp , Polaris Capital and Siwasit Sainampueng, accusing them with conspiring to take over NMG without complying with regulations.
Nittimon said he would introduce the SEC order as evidence in court.
Suthichai Yoon, adviser to the editorial board at NMG, said he was ready to fight the charges and prove himself in court, as ‘‘the truth’’ coming out indicated to society that NMG was being illegally taken over by a group of people.
NMG executives have performed their duties with integrity and responsibility for the company, its shareholders and its media professionals, he said.
As of the closing of NMG’s registration book in January 2015, the three parties owned more than 25 per cent of NMG’s shares.
News Network Corp held 12.21 per cent, Siwasit 9.14 per cent and Polaris Capital 7.54 per cent.

Samorn Terdthampiboon, president of Thailand Post, said the new services were Prompt Post, Messenger Post, the THP card and cross-border delivery services.
Prompt Post is a pre-registration application in which people use a ready-to-send box before accessing post offices nationwide.
Prompt Post also has a pre-load application that will allow customers to pre-register from their homes, automated post machines and automated deposit machines – the first of which will soon be located at Suvarnabhumi Airport .
Samorn said Prompt Post would slash queuing times.
As part of the overhaul, she said Thailand Post would also renovate more than 1,300 of its counters by the end of this year.
Messenger Post is an express delivery messenger and pick-up service for delivery nationwide. The service will allow postmen to collect products at homes and organisations.
The THP card is an e-money service applicable for Thailand Post products and service fees.
The company plans soon to develop the service into an e-wallet card for Thailand Post fee payments.
The company will team with Cambodia Post to provide a cross-broader delivery service for Cambodian customers who order products from Big C stores online.
“Thailand Post will keep developing services to meet Thais’ satisfaction,” Samorn said. “Also, the comprehensive delivery networking and standardised service will be maintained along with human-resource development in order to satisfy all users and e-commerce [demands]. Thailand Post aims to be the leader in postal and logistic services in Asean in the near future.”
Satit Pittarat, chairman of Thailand Post, said the Kingdom needed to adapt to the changing times by improving all its systems including services, marketing, finance and investment, human resources and management.
He said the enhancement would be developed under three concepts – standardisation, modernisation and satisfaction – to respond to the government’s “Thailand 4.0” initiative and be a platform for helping to drive the economy through innovative services. Thailand Post has targeted revenue growth of 22.6 per cent to Bt24 billion this year with a net profit of Bt3 billion.
In the first quarter the company booked revenue of Bt12 billion and net profit of Bt1.6 billion on the back of business generated by the Euro 2016 soccer tournament.
The company plans to spend around Bt500 million this year on improving its information infrastructure and renovating its counters.

Matthew Bucknall, president and founder, said yesterday that there was more room to grow in this region after creating a strong presence in Bangkok and Singapore.
Under the six-year plan, there will be 20 new health clubs in Thailand with total investment of Bt5.2 billion, creating more than 1,500 jobs.
Virgin Active operates four clubs at Empire Tower, EmQuartier, CentralPlaza Westgate and the latest one in Siam Discovery.
The Bt325 million Siam Discovery outlet occupies 5,000 square metres. It is considered one of the largest clubs in Asia.
This luxurious fitness centre offers a broad range of facilities and highly innovative group exercises.
One at CentralFestival EastVille will start offering fitness facilities for kids in December, followed by four locations next year.
“New locations should be extended around its key ‘V-Triangle’ strategy, which consists of its three flagship clubs in main areas such as business districts, and residential and retail areas in the city,” he said.
Besides Thailand, the company is putting more weight on expansion in Singapore, which already has two locations at One Raffle Place and Marina One. By year-end, Tanjong Pagar Centre will have a club.
Unlike the expansion in Thailand, Virgin Active is looking for small-scale clubs in Singapore.
About Bt2.6 billion has been budgeted for 10 new branches in this island state under the six-year plan.
If the company could find the right business partner in China, people there would get the chance to experience international health clubs like in Thailand and Singapore.
Despite intense competition in the Thai market, it was not too late to enter, said Christian Mason, managing director of Virgin Active’s Southeast Asia region.
“Since our first club opened in Bangkok in 2014, all clubs have already reached breakeven point within six to nine operating months,” he said.