Shareholders of REA Vipingo Plantations Limited have until May 27, 2015, to accept the offer by REA Trading Ltd to acquire their stake, following approval of an extension of the offer period by the Capital Markets Authority (CMA).
Initially, the offer to buy all issued ordinary shares of the Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed sisal grower was slated for closure on May 13, 2015. REA Trading currently holds 57% of REA Vipingo Plantations.
A statement by REA Trading announcing the extension reads: “Our offer is unconditional and we intend to proceed with it on the original terms but we felt it would be helpful to our many shareholders if they had a little more time to accept the REAT Offer and send in their completed Forms of Acceptance and supporting documentation to the authorized accepting agents. We have obtained the approval of the Capital Markets Authority to extend the closing date by two weeks to 5.00 p.m. on Wednesday 27th May 2015”.
REA Trading is offering to buy 100% of the ordinary shares of REA Vipingo Plantations at the price of Ksh70 per share plus an additional cash top-up of Ksh15 per share.
According to Mr Kathure Nyamu, the CEO of CBA Capital, the lead transaction advisers, the offer has attracted huge support from the REA Vipingo shareholders. “We are delighted by the response to the takeover offer by the shareholders of REA Vipingo so far. We are confident that we will be able to successfully conclude this transaction,” Ms Nyamu added.
REA Trading has released an amended timetable which indicates that the results of its offer will now be published on June 10, 2015. Payments to shareholders who have accepted the REAT Offer are set to be dispatched on July 1, 2015.
