Olam International, the commodity trader that sued Muddy Waters LLC for defamation, said itΆs reviewing all legal options, as its second-largest shareholder maintained its stake and two directors bought shares in the company.
“WeΆre not saying weΆll only sue them in Singapore,” Chief Executive Officer Sunny Verghese said today in an interview on Bloomberg TelevisionΆs “On the Move” program. “Our legal team is looking at our full set of options” to get redress for its shareholders, he said.
Singapore state-owned investment company Temasek Holdings Pte said today it had maintained its stake in Olam. And two Olam board directors, Michael Lim and Robert Tomlin, each bought 200,000 shares in the company, according to separate statements to the Singapore stock exchange. Neither owned shares before the purchase, the statement said.
Olam, one of the worldΆs top three coffee traders, has dropped 10% since Muddy Waters founder Carson Block first questioned the companyΆs finances and accounting practices at a London conference on Nov. 19. Olam sued the research firm and Block on Nov. 21 in the Singapore High Court, calling the comments malicious falsehoods.
“Temasek is a responsible shareholder,” Verghese said. The company, which holds 16% of Olam according to data compiled by Bloomberg, “did come and have several discussions with us, trying to ascertain and get to the truth of what is happening,” he said.
SHARES ADVANCE
Shares of Olam advanced 4% to S$1.56 at the close in Singapore. TheyΆve dropped 27% this year, making the stock the second-worst performing member on the benchmark Straits Times index.
OlamΆs 5.75% bonds due September 2017 were quoted at 84.7 cents on the dollar as of 5:53 p.m. in Singapore, according to Bloomberg prices. The notes, which priced at par in September, were quoted at 97 cents on Nov. 19, Bloomberg prices show.
Muddy Waters rated Olam a strong sell in a 133-page report released on its website two days ago, in which it likened the company to failed energy trader Enron Corp. Houston-based Enron lost $68 billion in market value from its 2000 peak to filing for bankruptcy in 2001.
Block said in a Nov. 28 interview on Bloomberg TelevisionΆs “Market Makers” program that he stands by Muddy WatersΆ report and is ready to defend himself in court.
STRONG LIQUIDITY
“This whole bogey of trying to say that we have some kind of liquidity crisis cannot be corroborated,” Verghese said yesterday at a briefing in Singapore. “I just canΆt understand” how Muddy Waters could say the company may fail.
Olam has more than $10 billion of liquidity and its balance sheet is the “strongest itΆs ever been,” Verghese said today. “We have ample liquidity with significant margin of safety given the likely reaction of debt capital markets.”
Olam is getting support from shareholders, as well as customers, Verghese said.
“I am grateful that they have stood by us,” he said of Temasek. “The fact they have stayed invested and kept the faith is the biggest support I can ask for.”
TemasekΆs spokesman Stephen Forshaw referred to his earlier statement that the state-owned investment company had maintained its stake in Olam, declining further comment after VergheseΆs interview with Bloomberg Television.
SHARE PURCHASES
The two Olam board members, Lim and Tomlin, bought their shares at $1.545 and $1.55 a share, respectively. A call to Olam seeking comment from them wasnΆt answered.
Muddy Waters values Olam on a “liquidation basis, because our opinion is that it is likely to fail,” the research firm said in its report. Olam uses non-cash accounting gains to boost earnings, has been “burning cash” and will need to raise or refinance as much as $4.6 billion of debt over the next year to remain solvent.
Olam has the capacity to meet its debt obligations of $1.5 billion in the next 12 months, in addition to its planned spending, the Singapore-based company said yesterday in a statement. It supplies 21 products from cocoa to rubber, from 65 countries to 12,300 customers. ItΆs one of the worldΆs top six cotton traders.
Block said he had “shorted” Olam, seeking to profit by selling borrowed shares now and buying them back later at a lower price. “It is instructive to view Olam through the lens of failed U.S. trader Enron,” Muddy Waters said in its report. “There are a number of material similarities in the way their businesses developed, and their actions.”
