Yinson's major shareholder’s MGO for Icon turns unconditional

KUALA LUMPUR (May 8): The takeover bid by Yinson Holdings Bhd’s major shareholder for Icon Offshore Bhd has closed with the offeror raising its stake in the offshore support vessel operator to 56.67%.

AmInvestment Bank Bhd, on behalf of Icon Offshore, informed Bursa Malaysia that the mandatory general offer (MGO) by Singaporean trading and logistics firm Liannex Corp (S) Pte Ltd had closed at 5pm on Tuesday.

The MGO was triggered on March 26 after Liannex — a private vehicle of Yinson major shareholder Lim Han Weng and his spouse Bah Kim Lian — acquired a 50.2% stake in Icon Offshore for RM172.2 million, or 63.5 sen per share, in cash.

The 50.2% stake was purchased from state-owned private equity firm Ekuiti Nasional Bhd, or Ekuinas, who still held about 5.83% after the sale. Ekuinas has held the stake for more than 10 years.

Lim's 24.5% stake in Yinson is held through Liannex and Yinson Legacy Sdn Bhd, while his wife and children also own shares in the floating oil and gas asset operator.

Liannex had extended an offer to acquire the remaining 49.8% stake in Icon Offshore at 63.5 sen per share as well as 100% of the group’s warrants, or 130.9 million warrants, at 0.1 sen apiece. Liannex intends to maintain Icon Offshore’s listing status.

For the financial year ended Dec 31, 2023, Icon Offshore, which owns and operates among Malaysia's biggest fleets of offshore support vessels for the oil and gas industry, booked a net profit of RM4.86 million on revenue of RM199.79 million.

As at end-2023, the group had net debt of RM101.4 million and accumulated losses of RM16.06 million.

Shares of Icon Offshore settled 1.5 sen or 1.94% lower at 76 sen on Tuesday, giving it a market capitalisation of RM469.87 million. Year to date, the counter has risen over 33%.