Daily news - 1 Sep

Olam's takeover targets may become cheaper
Olam International Ltd – Says potential takeover targets may become cheaper as stock and commodity prices decline. The shares surged. CEO Sunny Verghese said he was seeing significant opportunities and are finding “real value targets”. Olam made 13 acquisitions since the start of 2007, according to Bloomberg data, and said last week that more may follow in the next 12 months. The Singapore-based company, which plans to boost profit by as much as 30% a year, said last week after the close of trading that fiscal Q4 net more than doubled to $64.9m. Acquisitions helped sales volumes expand 31% to 4.93m tonnes in the 12 months to June 30, Mr Verghese said last Friday. Olam's recent takeovers and investments include Australia's Queensland Cotton Holdings Ltd, US peanut processor Universal Blanchers LLC, and a 35% stake in China Grains & Oil I/E Corp.

CapitaLand divests stake in KL tower
CapitaLand – Is divesting its 30% stake in a company that owns Menara Citibank, a 50-storey office tower in Kuala Lumpur's Jalan Ampang, for RM176m (S$75.5m). Upon completing the divestment, the Singapore-based property giant will recognise a gain of about S$22.1m. The company being divested is Inverfin Sdn Bhd, whose principal asset is Menara Citibank. CapitaLand and the other Inverfin shareholders - Citibank (50%) and Lion Group (20%) - are selling their respective shareholdings in Inverfin to IOI Corporation Bhd. The total consideration for the divestment is RM586.7m and based on the net asset value of Inverfin which values the property at about RM733.6m, this works out to about RM1,000 per square foot of net lettable area for the freehold property. CB Richard Ellis Singapore and RE Group Associates Sdn Bhd acted for Inverfin's shareholders. CapitaLand Commercial Ltd CEO Wen Khai Meng said the group will recycle or redeploy proceeds from the divestment to tap on new opportunities in the growing Malaysian market.

Source: Kim Eng