Esso M'sia minority told to reject Petron offer

The advisor of Esso Malaysia Bhd's minority shareholders said yesterday that they should reject the takeover offer by Petron Corp's unit as it was "not fair."

"We opine that the offer is not fair to the holders and the holders who reject the offer will stand to benefit from the potential future growth of the company under the new management and ownership," Kenanga Investment Bank said in a circular to shareholders late yesterday.

Petron, the oil and gas arm of the Philippine-based conglomerate San Miguel Corp, completed the acquisition of a 65 per cent stake in Esso last month. The purchase followed a mandatory takeover offer to acquire the remaining 35 per cent stake in Esso for RM3.59 per share.

Shares of Esso remained unchaged at RM3.58 a share as at 0337 GMT, outperforming the Malaysian benchmark stock index that shed 0.10 per cent. -- Reuters