Duncan Kipchumba, the director of Wote Ltd. met Lewis Khaminwa, the director of Toa Limited during a
conference in Kisumu City. They had some discussion about their two companies. After flying back to Nairobi,
Duncan Kipchumba proposed to his board of directors the acquisition of Toa Ltd.
During his presentation to the Board, he stated that "as a result of this takeover, we will diversify our operations
and earnings per share will rise by 13% bringing great benefits to our shareholders".
No bid has yet been made and Wote Limited currently owns 2% of Toa Ltd. A bid would be based on an exchange
of shares between the two companies which would be one Wote Ltd. share for every six Toa Ltd. shares.
Financial data for the two companies include the following:
| Wote Ltd. Sh.("million") | Toa Ltd. Sh.("million") |
| Turnover | 56.0 | 42.0 |
| Profit before tax | 12.0 | 10.0 |
| Profit attributable to ordinary shareholders | 7.8 | 6.5 |
| Dividends payable | 3.2 | 3.4 |
| 4.6 | 3.1 |
| Issued ordinary share capital (Sh."million") | 20
| 15 |
| Market price per share (MPS) (Sh.) | 3.20 | 0.45 |
| Par value per share (Sh.) | 0.50 | 0.10 |
Required:
(i) The pre-merger price to earnings (P/E) ratio for both companies.
(ii) Post merger earnings per share (EPS).
(iii) Explain whether you agree with Duncan Kipchumba when he says that the takeover would bring great
benefits to ordinary shareholders. Support your answer with relevant calculations.
(iv) The post-acquisition price of a share of Wote Ltd. assuming the bid is successful.
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