Life & Style | Motoring

Al Futtaim to raise stake in auto dealer

Dubai-based group already holds 77.27% stake in Sri Lanka's Associated Motorways.

  • Bloomberg
  • Published: 23:29 October 11, 2008
  • Gulf News

Dubai: The Al- Futtaim Group plans to buy 0.82 per cent more of Sri Lanka's Associated Motorways Ltd through a mandatory offer it made to shareholders of the retailer of Yamaha motorcycles and Nissan automobiles.

The Dubai-based company held 77.27 per cent in Associated Motorways before the offer period, and separately bought an additional 17.87 per cent stake during the period, which closed on October 7, Al-Futtaim said on Friday in a filing to the Colombo Stock Exchange.

Al Futtaim on July 28 agreed to buy a controlling stake in Associated Motorways from its parent and from John Keells Holdings Ltd for Rs6.9 billion ($64 million, Dh242 million) and offered to acquire all the remaining stock in line with the market regulator's rules.

Al Futtaim Group paid Rs174.5 a share for a 51.2 per cent stake held by Associated Electrical Corp. and 20 per cent owned by John Keells and offered to buy the automobile dealer's shares at the same price.

Associated Motorways has gained 36.3 per cent this year in trading on the Colombo Stock Exchange, compared with a 21 per cent drop in the benchmark All Share Index.

Next step

Al Futtaim will decide whether to take Associated Motorways private after the conclusion of the mandatory offer, Bob Farrow, senior business development manager at the group's automotive division, said on July 28.

The company may seek partners to build industrial tires and assemble cars in Sri Lanka, Farrow said.

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