KUALA LUMPUR (Nov 8): Automated test equipment (ATE) maker ViTrox Corp Bhd has proposed to undertake a bonus issue of up to 472.43 million new shares on the basis of one bonus share for every one existing share on an entitlement date to be determined later.
In its bourse filing on Monday, ViTrox said that the maximum number of 472.43 million is determined after taking into account its existing shares of 427.27 million shares as at Oct 26 and assuming that all 164,000 outstanding options are exercised into new ViTrox shares prior to the entitlement date.
The company added that the share price adjusted for the proposed bonus issue should not be less than 50 sen based on the daily volume weighted average price (VWAP) of ViTrox shares during the three-month period before the application date.
Based on the five-day VWAP of ViTrox shares up to and the lowest daily VWAP of its shares during the past three-month period up to and including Oct 26, the theoretical ex-bonus price for its shares is expected to be between RM9.29 and RM10.43.
ViTrox noted that the proposed bonus issue is the most appropriate avenue to reward existing shareholders as it will enlarge the number of shares while maintaining their percentage of equity interest in the company.
Additionally, the extra shares are expected to enhance and encourage trading liquidity of the company's shares on Bursa Malaysia by providing a greater participation from a broader range of investors, it said.
Meanwhile, ViTrox is also proposing to establish an employees' share grant scheme of up to 5% of the total issued shares, for eligible executive directors and employees of the company. The company also stated that the total shares made available under the scheme and its existing employees' share option scheme (ESOS) shall not exceed 15% of the total number of issued shares of the company at any point of time.
The proposed bonus issue and proposed share grant scheme are expected to be completed and implemented in the first quarter of 2022 and the first half of 2022 respectively. Affin Hwang Investment Bank Bhd is the principal adviser for the proposals.
ViTrox shares closed flat at RM20.00 on Monday, giving it a market capitalisation of RM9.45 billion.
sourced from: TheEdge