Good morning,
1) Bonia: Bonia is taking a bigger step abroad by acquiring a 49% stake in German based leather goods maker Braun Buffel in a deal worth Euro 3.2m (RM13.1m). Co announced that it's 70% owned subsidiary Jeco Pte Ltd has signed a SPA with Christiane Brunk for the purchase of a 49% equity stake in Braun Verwaltungs GmbH & Braun GmbH & Co KG for Euro 980,000 cash. Jeco also entered into a loan receivable sale agreement with several parties to restructure the total debts of Euro 3.15m owed by Braun KG, which will be settled through a lump sum of Euro 2.2m. Jeco also entered into a trademark purchase & transfer agreement for the purpose of acquiring the Braun Buffel trademark for Euro 20,000 cash.The entire deal will be funded through internally generated funds; +ve, the group believes the long established brand of Braun Buffel will be able to further grow it's market share & recognition in the Asia-Pacific region and the rest of the world. Acquisition should widen it's earning base.
2) PPB: PPB's flour milling arm FFM Bhd has received regulatory approval from Chinese authorities to have a 20% stake in another Chinese flour milling unit controlled by Wilmar International Ltd. In a Bursa statement yesterday, FFM's wholly owned unit Waikari SB said it received notice of approval for the establishment of Yihai Kerry (Quanzhou) Grain & Foodstuff Industries Co Ltd, which it is taking a 20% stake in. It already has approval for it's investment in Yihai (Chongqing) Foodstuff Co Ltd; +ve. Acquisition represents an opportunity for FFM to tap on the distribution network of the Wilmar group in China. The acquiree companies operate substantially in the same core business as FFM & is expected to contribute significantly to group's revenue moving forward. PPB is also seeking regulatory go-ahead for investments totaling RM173m in debts & equity for Wilmar's flour milling units in Beijing, Dongguan, Zhoukou & Shenyang.
3) Maybank: said it has been granted further extension of time by Indonesian authorities to lower it's stake in PT Bank Internasional Indonesia Tbk (BII). In a Bursa statement, Maybank said it had on Dec 2011 received a letter from Bapepam granting it a further 6 months to June 1 to fulfil & complete the selldown exercise. Maybank acquired BII in 2008 for RM7.9b and holds a 97.5% stake. It was asked by the Indonesian regulators to sell down it's stake to achieve a minimum float of 20% - Neutral.
4) Mkt: maintain existing view of situationals & lower liners to outperform in a positive January market.