Another 2 SGX firms receive privatisation offers, taking potential delistings to 5 in 2025
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There have so far been five privatisation offers for SGX companies in 2025.
PHOTO: LIANHE ZAOBAO
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SINGAPORE – Two more Singapore Exchange-listed companies have received privatisation offers, taking the number of firms that could potentially delist to five so far in 2025.
The latest buyout offers involve mainboard-listed engineer PEC and Catalist-listed nursing home operator Econ Healthcare (Asia).
PEC said on Feb 17 that it had received a proposal by Alliance Energy Services to take it private at 84 cents per share, comprising 64 cents in cash and a special dividend of 20 cents for each share held.
Alliance Energy is a subsidiary of Liberty Energy Solutions, which provides engineering and chemical decontamination services to oil and gas refineries and petrochemical facilities.
The proposal will require shareholder and regulatory approval. Major shareholders holding 63.38 per cent of PEC share have already agreed to vote in favour of the offer.
The buyout offer came just days after Econ Healthcare (Asia) said on Feb 14 that it had received an offer for all its shares from Enabler Bidco, a special purpose vehicle indirectly owned by US investment firm TPG Global.
Econ Healthcare shareholders can opt to receive 33 cents a share in cash or 22.4 cents in cash plus 0.32 shares in a TPG-controlled holding company of Enabler Bidco. If no choice is made, shareholders will receive the cash option by default. A special dividend of 2.5 cents a share will also be paid if the offer is approved.
The two offers take the number of potential delistings from the Singapore Exchange (SGX) to five in 2025.
On Feb 10, Cuscaden Peak Investments – formerly Singapore Press Holdings – proposed to privatise and delist the Paragon Reit for 98 cents a share, or $2.78 billion in total.
Developer SLB Development and agri-food business Japfa may also be leaving the exchange after receiving privatisation offers from their major shareholders in January.
All five companies cited poor trading liquidity as reasons for going private.
The privatisation offers, if successful, will follow the 17 delistings from the SGX in 2024, compared with just four initial public offerings (IPO).
There have been no IPOs here so far in 2025, although measures to encourage listings, such as tax incentives and better access to capital, were announced during the 2025 Budget statement on Feb 18.
SGX officials have also said they are seeing an improvement in the pipeline of companies aiming to list here, and hope to see more IPOs in 2025 than in 2024.
