Sinar Mas makes offer for Amcol

Sinar Mas makes offer for Amcol

SINGAPORE (Reuter): OCBC Bank Ltd said yesterday that Asia Food & Properties Ltd (AFP), a unit of the Indonesian Sinar Mas Group, had made a conditional takeover offer for all ordinary shares in troubled property and finance firm Amcol Holdings Ltd.

OCBC said AFP was the vehicle which Indonesian white knight PT Sinar Mas Tunggal (SMT) would use to bail out the ailing firm.

The deal, including a listing in Singapore in U.S. dollars, has gained approval in principle from the Stock Exchange of Singapore, OCBC said in a statement.

AFP holds the food processing and distribution assets of the Sinar Mas group and is a unit of British Virgin Islands- registered Flambo International Ltd, whose capital is held in a beneficial trust for Indonesia's Widjaja family.

OCBC said the takeover would be effected by a share transfer scheme in which four new AFP shares would be offered for every three Amcol shares and one AFP warrant for every 10 offer shares held.

The deal announced by OCBC completes the Sinar Mas rescue plan announced in August 1996 by Amcol's judicial managers, Price Waterhouse.

Amcol was placed in judicial management on July 25, 1996 when the High Court agreed to an application made by three of its creditor banks -- OCBC, OUB Bank and Bank of China -- after Amcol announced it faced severe cash flow difficulties and could not service its debts.

Price Waterhouse said Amcol had liabilities of Singapore $1.16 billion as at May 31 1996 and had total assets of S$1.55 billion.