Wilmar International, on Thursday (July 23, 2020), announced that it has acquired a total of some 103.3 million ordinary shares in Unity Foods from Muhammad Farrukh, Safdar Sajjad, and Fehmida Amin, totalling PKR 1.03 billion ($8.49 million).
Unity Wilmar Agro is a 52% owned subsidiary of Wilmar Pakistan Holdings, which is in turn, a direct wholly-owned subsidiary of Wilmar International.
Fehmida Amin is the mother of Muhammad Farrukh, who is the CEO and a director of UWA. Farrukh and Sajjad each hold a 25% shareholding interest in Unity Enterprises (Private) Limited, which in turn holds the balance 48% shareholding interest in UWA.
The acquisition represents an approximate 18.98% shareholding interest in Unity Foods, and brings UWA’s total shareholding interest to 29.99%.
The purchase consideration was agreed on a willing-buyer, willing-seller basis, at the same purchase price of PKR10 per share paid by UWA in the 2019 acquisition and was funded from the internal funds of UWA.
Wilmar International said the acquisition is not expected to have a material impact on the consolidated net tangible assets and earnings per share of the Wilmar group for the current financial year ending Dec 31, 2020.
Unity Foods is a company listed on the Pakistan Stock Exchange and is in the business of manufacturing and processing of edible oils, industrial fats, flour and various feed ingredients for poultry and livestock sector in Pakistan. Its last traded price on July 22, 2020 was PRK 12.79 / share.
Wilmar says that the acquisition allows UWA to have a bigger presence in the edible oils, flour and industrial fats market in Pakistan due to the nature of its business of manufacturing meals for the animal feed business in Pakistan.
Shares in Wilmar International closed 4 cents higher or 0.9% up at $4.34, on Thursday.
