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Thread: Wheelock, Ong Beng Seng raise offer for HPL

  1. #1
    Join Date
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    Default Wheelock, Ong Beng Seng raise offer for HPL

    http://www.straitstimes.com/archive/...r-hpl-20140515

    Wheelock, Ong Beng Seng raise offer for HPL

    Consortium now offering $4 a share, up from $3.50, for Hotel Properties

    Published on May 15, 2014 1:13 AM

    By Cheryl Ong


    PROPERTY tycoon Ong Beng Seng and Wheelock Properties sweetened their offer to shareholders of buyout target Hotel Properties (HPL) yesterday.

    Their consortium, 68 Holdings, is now offering $4 a share for the hotel group, up from the $3.50 a share dangled before investors last month.

    The higher price was announced after 68 Holdings agreed to buy 17.1 million HPL shares - 3.3 per cent of the firm - for $4 apiece yesterday. Under the Takeover Code, they now have to raise their offer for the rest of the shares to match this price.

    The $4 offer, which values the hotel firm at about $2.07 billion, is 11.7 per cent higher than HPL's last closing price of $3.58 on Monday.

    One analyst, who declined to be named, said the fact that the stock had been trading above $3.50 since the initial offer showed that the market was expecting a better price.

    About 17.2 million shares changed hands before HPL halted trading at 9.14am yesterday ahead of the new offer announcement. By that time, HPL shares had jumped 26 cents, or 7.3 per cent, to $3.84.

    Before the trading halt, about 240 million - or 46.39 per cent - of HPL shares were already owned by 68 Holdings.

    The consortium said in its statement it has received acceptances representing about 692,000 - or 0.13 per cent - of HPL's issued shares at the earlier offer price.

    It added that HPL's full-year dividends for last year will not be deducted from the offer price.

    This means shareholders who accept the offer will receive the dividend of eight cents per share on top of the $4 offer price.

    68 Holdings started its buyout campaign last month when HPL's founder, Mr Ong, teamed up with Wheelock to buy about 214 million shares - or 41.91 per cent - of HPL's capital at what was believed to be a 25 per cent discount to the company's revalued net asset value (RNAV).

    The 68 Holdings entity comprises Cuscaden Partners with 60 per cent and Nassim Developments on 40 per cent.

    Cuscaden Partners is, in turn, 90 per cent owned by Mr Ong and 10 per cent owned by Mr David Ban. Nassim Developments is an indirect, wholly owned subsidiary of Wheelock Properties, which has a 20.16 per cent stake in HPL.

    The offer for HPL, which owns and operates properties in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and Maldives, has revived market talk about a possible redevelopment of its properties in Orchard Road.

    The properties, which include Four Seasons Hotel and Forum the Shopping Mall, occupy almost 20,000 sq m of land, a Maybank Kim Eng report said earlier.

    It said a redevelopment would help shore up HPL's RNAV significantly.

    68 Holdings said previously that although it intends to keep HPL listed, it may take it private if its free float falls below 10 per cent.

    The 68 Holdings offer closes on June 2.

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  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2009
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    Default

    $5.. then seriously think tat serious offer... ;-)

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