Equatorial Palm Oil jumps after confirming funding and offer talks

16th Oct 2013 10:47

Shares in AIM minnow Equatorial Palm Oil (EPO) were up by a third in early trading after the company admitted it was in potential takeover talks. The board of the Liberia-focused company said it had been in discussions with Kuala Lumpur Kepong (KLK), a Malaysian conglomerate, about funding EPO's main operational business, a 50/50 joint venture with Biopalm Energy called Liberian Palm Developments that is managed by EPO.EPO said the talks included the possibility of KLK providing funding for Liberian Palm Developments or indeed making a takeover offer for EPO in its entirety, but emphasised that discussions were at early stage and had by no means concluded.KLK has until 5pm on November 12th to make a takeover offer, according to London Stock Market rules. EPO made the revelations after a sharp rise in its share price on Tuesday, with its shares rising a further 33.3% to 6.5p at 11:00 on Wednesday. OH