Its shares jumped as much as 29 sen or almost 14% to RM2.39 this morning, its highest level in five months. At the midday break, a total of 9.5 million shares changed hands.
The counter pared its gains in the afternoon session and was trading at RM2.29 at 3.40pm, valuing the group at RM7.05 billion. Before today’s run-up, Yinson shares have fallen about 17% year to date.
Investors snapped up the stock after Bloomberg reported today that US-based Stonepeak Partners is holding “exclusive talks” with the Lim family, which holds a 26.6% stake in Yinson, to take the company private.
The Bloomberg report quoted sources with knowledge of the matter. Yinson has yet to comment on the purported deal.
The RM9 billion proposal translates to about RM3.23 per share, a premium of about 37.5% over today’s midday price of RM2.35, and 54% over yesterday’s RM2.10 closing price.
Of the 10 research houses covering Yinson, all have “buy” calls with an average 12-month target price of RM3.54.
From lorry company to global player
Yinson was founded by its executive chairman, Lim Han Weng, 72, and his wife, Bah Kim Lian, in 1984, as a lorry transport company before diversifying into the oil and gas sector.
In 1996, Yinson went public and continued to expand its global presence. It is now one of the world’s biggest providers of floating production, storage, and offloading (FPSO) vessels, which are used to extract and store crude oil.
Forbes lists Han Weng and his family’s net worth at US$480 million (RM2.03 billion) as of April 16.
His son, Chern Yuan, is the group’s CEO while another son, Chern Wooi, is executive chairman of listed Lianson Fleet Group Bhd (formerly Icon Offshore Bhd), which was acquired in 2024.
The company has US$21 billion (RM88 billion) worth of leasing contracts extending till 2048, according to Forbes.
Yinson is also in the business of producing renewable energy and building electric vehicle charging networks.
For the financial year ended Jan 31, 2025, the group posted a net profit of RM752 million, down 22% year-on-year, while revenue fell 38% to RM7.6 billion from RM11.65 billion a year earlier.