MSC, Latexx & MISC- the good, the bad & the ugly

MSC

Supposedly the 'good' one, MSC has announced that it is looking to concession for 3-4 tin mines in Indonesia & Malaysia in order to tap in the strong demand for tin ore (go here). This announcement has prompted a sharp rally in the stock. My concern is whether MSC can execute this plan better than their last batch of acquisition in 2007-2008 which ended with huge write-off.

Latexx

Supposedly the 'bad' one, Latexx announced that it had received an offer letter from YTY Industry Holdings Sdn Bhd to merge four of the latter's wholly-owned subsidiaries with Latexx for a purchase consideration of RM1.37 billion. The proposed acquisition of YTY shall be settled by way of cash payment of RM409.5 million & issuance of 382.2 million Latexx shares valued at RM2.50 each. This would result in YTY gaining a controlling 63%-stake in Latexx. The proposed merger announcement came hot on the heels of the recently-aborted deal by Navis Asia VI Management Co Ltd and Mettiz Capital Ltd to take over Latexx. For more, go here.

I don't know what really prompted the collapse of one deal & the sudden arrival of the next deal but there are two questions that crossed my mind:

1) Why is the major shareholders of Latexx so eager to exit the company?
2) Why the major shareholders of YTY chose not to list YTY on the exchange by direct application instead of going through a back-door listing? The former is the cheaper route while the latter involved partnership issue & legacy concern.

The answers to both questions should give us reasons to be concerned about Latexx.

MISC

No prize for guessing which one is the 'ugly' one! MISC shareholders should take note that the shipping rates could remain in doldrums for quite a while, going by the comment made by the world's largest oil tanker operator, Frontline of Norway when it announced its results for 1Q2011. Its earning dropped 81% y-o-y due to low shipping rates. The company issued a grim outlook: “It is hard to see a strong recovery in the tanker market as long as the net supply of tonnage grows faster than the total ton mile demand.” For more, go here.