Kotjo to sell stake in S'pore's ABR

Kotjo to sell stake in S'pore's ABR

SINGAPORE (Reuter): Four Singapore-based businessmen have
agreed on an option to buy the controlling stake in food company
ABR Holdings now held by Indonesian tycoon Johanes Kotjo,
Schroders International Merchant Bankers said.

Schroders said in a statement, received by Reuters on Tuesday,
that Ang Yee Lim, Foo Jong Long, Ricky Goh Hoon Kan and William
Tan Leong Ko agreed to pay S$1.35 each for 17.8 million shares in
ABR, or about 40 percent of the company.

The shares would be bought in two tranches from investment
vehicles in which Kotjo held an interest: 11.66 million ABR
shares from Regent Universal Investments and 6.14 million shares
from Loisir Investments.

The purchase would be made through Sullivan Developments and
Goldhurst Properties, both of which are incorporated in the
British Virgin Islands.

The statement said the deal depended on approvals from certain
parties and would lapse if the options were not exercised within
three months.

If the options were exercised, the buyers would make a general
takeover offer for the remaining ABR shares they did not own at
S$1.35 or the highest price paid by them in the 12 months
preceding the offer.

News of the takeover option triggered a sharp rise in ABR's
share price on Tuesday morning. The stock was last 9 percent
higher at S$1.45 with 4.7 million shares traded.