Shares of Top Glove, Supermax and Adventa fell sharply.
This came after Top Glove’s head honcho made it clear that the company was not buying Adventa or Supermax.
Top Glove, in a filing with Bursa Malaysia, clarified that it was in talks to acquire a glove manufacturer as part of its expansion plans but the company involved was not Adventa or Supermax as quoted by industry sources.
Adventa fell eight sen or 9.58% to 75.5 sen, with 11.11 million shares changing hands yesterday while Supermax lost 15 sen or 7.26% to RM1.89, with 7.26 million shares being traded.
Top Glove, on other hand, shed 29 sen or 4.23% to close at RM6.39, with about 1.96 million shares changing hands.
According to reports, the speculation came about after Top Glove executive chairman Tan Sri Lim Wee Chai told reporters last week that the group was in the midst of announcing a major acquisition that could possibly cost more than RM1bil.
It was reported that Lim said the acquisition target would be a Malaysian glove maker that produces both surgical and examination gloves.
Meanwhile, another news report quoted a dealer speculating that Supermax was the closest glove maker that met the criteria and that it could possibly dispose of its glove unit.
The report said the market was speculating that Supermax may dispose of its assets at a premium.
The Monday news caused the share price of the respective companies to rise, with Supermax reaching its highest level to end the day at RM2.04 since its June 8 close of RM2.05.
Adventa rose as much as 20 sen, or 27.4%, to 93 sen on Monday, while Top Glove hit a 21-month high of RM6.68.
Separately, Adventa, in a filing with Bursa Malaysia, said that it was no longer in the surgical glove manufacturing since it sold the business to Aspion Sdn Bhd in 2012.
“The board of directors of Adventa wishes to clarify that the company is no longer involved in the surgical glove manufacturing operations.”
Supermax also clarified via the exchange that the news was not true and misleading.
“No discussion was held between the company and Top Glove on this matter. Supermax has no involvement with the issuance of the news article,” it noted.