PHL recommends shareholders to accept share-swap offer

Prestige Holdings Ltd (PHL) is recommending its shareholders accept a share-swap offer made by Agostini Ltd.

In a notice, published on the TT Stock Exchange website on August 18, PHL's board of directors said the bid offers strategic benefits, shareholder support and fair valuation.

"The acquisition offers synergies such as diversification, economies of scale, geographic expansion and enhanced financial strength, appealing to shareholders seeking long-term value the acceptance of the bid offer," PHL said.

On June 17, Agostini offered to acquire up to 62,513,002 common shares at an offer price of one Agostini share for every 4.8 PHL shares.

The PHL's board has advised its shareholders to accept the offer, which would see them get a special dividend payout of 50 cents per share to all shareholders.

"Based on the average prices of PHL and AGL’s share prices over the three months (March 17 to June 16), the offer represents a 30 per cent premium," PHL said.

"The board exercises its judgment on an informed basis, after reasonable investigation and analysis of the situation and with a reasonable basis for believing that its actions are in the best interest of the company," it added.

The closing date of the offer has been extended to September 9.

PHL, parent company of Subway, TGI Fridays and KFC, currently has 136 restaurants – 133 in TT, two Starbucks franchises in Guyana and a TGI Fridays in Jamaica.

In June, PHL recorded a half-year profit before tax of $51 million as compared to $35 million for the same period in 2024 and profits after tax of $35 million as compared to $23 million in profits after tax for the same period the year before.