7-Eleven unaware of reason for share price rise

KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 1): 7-Eleven Malaysia Holdings Bhd, whose share price rose 51% over the last three weeks, said it is not aware of any reason for the recent increase in its share price.

“The board of directors of the company wishes to inform that to the best of their knowledge and belief, after making due enquiry with the company’s directors, major shareholders and such other relevant persons, the board of directors are not aware of any of the following that may have contributed to the recent share price momentum, vis-a-vis the articles published by The Edge on Oct 17 and 24 respectively,” the convenience store operator said in a filing with Bursa Malaysia on Tuesday (Nov 1).

It added that it is unaware of any corporate development or rumour relating to the group’s business and affairs that has not been previously announced that may account for the share price momentum.

"Further, the board wishes to confirm that the company is in compliance with Main Market listing requirements of Bursa Malaysia, in particular Paragraph 9.03 on immediate disclosure obligations," it said.

The Edge Malaysia weekly's report for the week of Oct 17-23, citing sources, said that US-based private equity fund Carlyle Group is believed to have submitted a bid to buy Caring Pharmacy Group Bhd from 7-Eleven.

“Both negotiations are at an advanced stage,” the source told The Edge, adding that Carlyle Group, which has US$376 billion in assets under management, made a RM1.3 billion offer to buy the retail pharmacy chain but that 7-Eleven is seeking between RM1.5 billion and RM1.8 billion.

7-Eleven owns 75% of Caring, while the remainder is held by Motivasi Optima Sdn Bhd. 7-Eleven’s largest shareholder is Berjaya Corp Bhd founder Tan Sri Vincent Tan, who controls 41.095% of the company.

In July, Bloomberg, citing people with knowledge of the matter, reported that 7-Eleven was working with an adviser on the potential divestment of the pharmacy group and had attracted interest from some Japanese parties. It was also reported that the company could seek a valuation for the retailer of about US$400 million.

The following month, in August, 7-Eleven had told The Edge that it was in preliminary stages of discussions with several parties to sell its stake in Caring.

Caring was previously listed on Bursa Malaysia from 2013 until May 2020, before 7-Eleven took over the pharmacy group in June 2020.

On Oct 7, 7-Eleven’s share price was trading at RM1.56. Since then, the stock has jumped over 50% to close at RM2.36 on Tuesday. Prior to this, it hit a record high of RM2.38 last Friday (Oct 28).

At RM2.36, it had a market value of RM2.91 billion. A total of 1.93 million shares exchanged hands.