SFSS set to be largest shareholder of Bintulu Port

KUCHING: The State Financial Secretary Sarawak (Incorporation) (SFSS) will emerge as the single largest shareholder of Bintulu Port Holdings Bhd (BPHB) after it subscribes for 60 million new shares under a placement exercise for RM399mil.
Its unit, Equisar Assets Sdn Bhd,
will take up the block of shares at RM6.65 each. The money from the
placement exercise will be used by BPHB to part-finance the Samalaju
Port project.
SFSS, the Sarawak government’s investment vehicle,
will have its stake in BPHB raised to 39.72% from 30.65% upon
completion of the exercise.
At BPHB’s EGM here yesterday,
non-interested shareholders voted to approve the resolution on the
placement of the 60 million new shares and a second resolution to
exempt SFSS and persons acting in concert from the obligation to
undertake a mandatory offer for all remaining BPHB shares not already
owned by them after completion of the share placement.
According to BPHB chairman Tan Sri Dr Wan Abdul Aziz Wan Abdullah, the two resolutions were carried with 87% voting in favour and 12.8% against.
He said the placement shares represented 15% of the company’s share capital.
“With
the approval of the resolutions, we (BPHB) now have the resources to
implement the Samalaju Port project,” Wan Abdul Aziz told reporters.
BPHB chief executive officer Datuk Mior Ahmad Baiti said Petroliam Nasional Bhd (Petronas), the current single largest shareholder of BPHB, would have its equity interest diluted to 28.52% from 32.79%.
The third single largest shareholder Kumpulan Wang Persaraan (KWAP) will have its stake lowered to 8.5% from 9.77%.
Apart
from the share placement, BPHB plans to raise RM950mil from the
issuance of Islamic securities or Sukuk to fund the Samalaju Port
project.
The new port is to serve mainly energy-intensive
industries in Samalaju Industrial Park within Sarawak Corridor of
Renewable Energy (SCORE).
BPHB group will operate the port through its unit Samalaju Industrial Port Sdn Bhd,
pursuant to a principal agreement to be entered into between Samalaju
Port Authority and SIPSB for an expected duration of 40 years. .
The project’s development cost is about RM2.2bil, inclusive of finance charges during construction.
The
port is designed to handle 18 million tonnes of cargo per year, higher
than Bintulu Port’s current capacity of 16 million tonnes (of
non-liquified natural gas cargo) per year.
The port’s capacity can be raised to 30 million tonnes a year if necessary.
The
construction of interim port facilities to cater for barges is
currently underway.The target date for the full completion of the port
is second quarter of 2016.