[ET Net News Agency, 9 September 2019] Citi Research lifted its target price for
Towngas China (TCCL)(01083) to HK$7.5 from HK$6.05 and upgraded its rating to "buy" from
"neutral".
The research house expects that TCCL could be bought by China Resources Gas (CRG)(01193)
during the ongoing industry consolidation. Citi said TCCL is vulnerable to a takeover due
to its deep valuation discounts to the bigger peers. Meanwhile, CRG is required by the
stock exchange to raise its free float to not less than 25%, from 23.9% currently. Hence,
a new share issuance reasonably could be expected.
Citi assumed CRG to make a general offer to buy TCCL at HK$7.57-8.73/share, based on
1.3-1.5x TCCL's end-2018 PB, equal to 39-60% premium to TCCL's share price. (KL)