SINGAPORE – The Competition Commission of Singapore (CCS) will be gathering public feedback from Thursday (Dec 21) to Jan 5 on the upcoming acquisition of Malaysian coffee company OldTown by Dutch tea and coffee giant Jacobs Douwe Egberts (JDE).
The CCS said in a statement it was notified on Dec 18 of the proposed transaction, in which JDE will acquire the entire issued and outstanding share capital of Bursa Malaysia-listed OldTown through its wholly owned indirect subsidiary JDE Asia.
JDE is offering RM3.18 per share for the operator of OldTown White Coffee chain through JDE Asia, the companies said in a statement on Dec 18.
The offer will be conditional once JDE receives acceptances from shareholders that will result in it holding more than 50 per cent of all OldTown shares, and post-transaction JDE plans to delist OldTown and take it private.
According to the Dec 18 statement, 51.45 per cent of OldTown shareholders have accepted the offer.
JDE had applied to the CCS for a decision as to whether the proposed deal would contravene anti-competitive measures in the Competition Act, which “prohibits mergers that have resulted, or may be expected to result, in a substantial lessening of competition in Singapore”.
JDE has said that the acquisition “will not result in a substantially lessening of competition in any market in Singapore”.
