ICI Pakistan gets divestment offer of NMPL at $56.6mn

July 14, 2022 (MLN): ICI Pakistan Limited has received a conditional offer from Morinaga Milk Industry Co., Ltd, Japan (Morinaga Milk) to acquire an aggregate of approximately 33.3% of the issued and paid-up share capital of NutriCo Morinaga (Private) Limited (NMPL), a subsidiary of ICI Pakistan, from NMPL's existing shareholders at an aggregate price of $56.6 million, translating to around $2.07 per share, the company's filing on PSX said today.

NMPL was a joint venture between ICI Pakistan, Morinaga Milk and Unibrands (Private) Limited to locally manufacture and distribute nutritional formula products, and was recently merged with NutriCo Pakistan (Private) Limited, which was involved in the import and distribution of select products of Morinaga Milk.

The Board of Directors of ICI Pakistan has granted in-principle approval to ICI Pakistan to move forward with the proposed sale/divestment of 26.5% of its shareholding in NMPL (i.e. partial divestment) to Morinaga Milk, subject to, inter alia, valuation of NMPL and the finalization of definitive agreements, to be presented to the Board of Directors for formal/final approval, if deemed fit by the Board.

In this respect, ICI Pakistan has also been authorized to enter into a memorandum of understanding for the proposed transaction, the notice said.

The offer from Morinaga Milk is a testament to Morinaga Milk's confidence in the Pakistan market and the potential of NMPL to grow and cater to the growing nutritional needs of the children of Pakistan.

As the owners of the `Morinaga' brand, know-how to manufacture the products along with its superior research & development facilities, Morinaga Milk is well equipped to accelerate the growth of NMPL with the support of ICI Pakistan as a continuing joint venture partner (which shall continue to hold approximately 24.5% of the share capital of NMPL upon the completion of the proposed transaction), it added.

The consummation of this transaction will position NMPL favorably to fully leverage the potential of the Pakistan market, delivering enduring value to all its stakeholders.

Currently, the scrip of the company is trading at Rs745 [11:28 PST], down by Rs3.25 or 0.43% DoD.

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