A consortium that includes Singapore tycoon Ong Beng Seng and Wheelock Properties (Singapore) offered on Tuesday to buy Hotel Properties for $3.50 per share, valuing the company at around $1.8 billion.
The move is the latest in a string of acquisitions in Singapore by large shareholders seeking to take advantage of what they see as attractive valuations to gain full control of property assets.
68 Holdings had agreed to acquire nearly 214 million shares in Hotel Properties, representing a 41.9% stake in the company, at $3.50 each, according to stock filings from Hotel Properties and Wheelock Properties to the Singapore Exchange. The group plans to make a cash offer for all the remaining shares it does not own.
Shares of Hotel Properties surged as much as 13.1% to $3.54, their highest point in almost 11 months, while Wheelock Properties jumped 5.4% to $1.84 in early Singapore trading.
68 Holdings is 60-percent owned by Cuscaden Partners, an investment holding company in which Ong, who is also managing director of Hotel Properties, owns a 90% interest and David Ban Song Long owns the rest.
The remaining 40% of 68 Holdings is held by Nassim Developments, a unit of Wheelock Properties. Wheelock Properties is part of Hong Kong-listed Wheelock & Co.
Ong, Ban and Wheelock have been long-term shareholders of Hotel Properties and have decided to consolidate their shareholding so they can “implement their shared objectives for HPL and to enhance value over time,” according to the filing.
Hotel Properties owns and operates hotels, and has businesses in property development and investment holding. The company has a portfolio of 28 hotels and resorts spread across 13 countries, according to its website.
The Hotel Properties offer comes a day after CapitaLand, Southeast Asia's biggest property developer, said it had bid $3.06 billion to buy out minority shareholders in its 65-percent owned CapitaMalls Asia.
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