Tuesday, June 2, 2009

Olam - Reactivating M&A pipeline, accelerating growth again

Olam is raising S$437.5 mn through the placement of 273.46 mn new shares to Temasek Holdings at S$1.60 per share, a 17.4% discount to 29 May 2009’s closing price. Post-placement, Temasek’s 13.76% stake is the second largest after Kelwaram Chanrai.

Olam's gearing should fall from 2.51x to 1.52x post the exercise, with adjusted gearing at 0.3x, versus 0.83x previously. Olam had cited an inadequate access to long-term funding as limiting the scope for M&A, despite a strong deal pipeline. With capital raised, Olam’s M&A initiatives have thus been reactivated.

We are pricing in S$1.3 bn of acquisitions by FY12E, with S$900 mn funded by debt, and have assumed a blended P/E of 15x, excluding synergies. After adjusting for the equity dilution, our EPS forecast rises by 3-4% through FY12E.

With medium-term growth prospects now likely to achieve Olam’s 25-30% earnings CAGR guidance, and another fund-raising unlikely in the next 18-24 months, we raise our DCF-based target price to S$2.70 (from S$1.95), and rating from Neutral to OUTPERFORM.

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