Jerneh investors converting warrants into shares

Jerneh plans to pay shareholders as much as RM3.93 a share via a dividend and capital repayment plan.


Kuala Lumpur: Jerneh Asia Bhd's warrant holders have been converting their warrants to mother shares, ahead of the insurer's special dividend payment, said to be the biggest this year by a public-listed company.

Jerneh plans to pay shareholders as much as RM3.93 a share via a dividend and capital repayment plan. Its stock closed at RM3.17 last Friday.

Since late May, more than 20.8 million warrants of the company have been converted into mother shares. This represents almost one-third of the total issue size of 66 million Jerneh warrants.

Holders can convert these warrants into mother shares at a strike price of RM1.60 each. The warrants were last traded at RM1.09.

Jerneh, which is 36.5 per cent owned by tycoon Tan Sri Robert Kuok Hock Hock Nien - the country's richest man, is currently searching for a new core business after selling its 80 per cent-owned Jerneh Insurance Bhd for more than RM500 million.

Since the sale, the company has proposed a reverse takeover of a Sabah-based property developer.

In April, it signed a memorandum of understanding with Generasi Cipta Sdn Bhd to buy the latter's 60 per cent-owned property firm Sagajuta (Sabah) Sdn Bhd for an undisclosed amount.

If the proposed exercise is finalised, it will pave the way for a backdoor listing for the developer of the RM1.2 billion 1Borneo development in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah.