Fragrance Group tycoon Koh Wee Meng, Aspial launch bid to take AF Global private
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Mr Koh Wee Meng, founder and CEO of Fragrance Group, has teamed up with Aspial to make a bid for AF Global.
PHOTO: ST FILE
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SINGAPORE - A consortium comprising Aspial Corp and property tycoon Koh Wee Meng has launched a bid to privatise mainboard-listed AF Global via a scheme of arrangement.
Aspial and JK Global Investment each hold 50 per cent of the shares within the consortium, AFG Investment.
JK Global Investment is wholly owned by Mr Koh. He is founder, executive chairman and chief executive of Fragrance Group, which he took private in 2021.
AFG Investment’s board of directors comprises Mr Koh and his younger brother Koh Wee Seng, CEO of Aspial.
Aspial already owns a 41.75 per cent stake in AF Global, while Mr Koh Wee Meng owns 30.91 per cent of the target company.
Their consortium is proposing to buy the remaining 27.35 per cent stake in AF Global for 11 cents per share – making for a total outlay of about $31.8 million.
AF Global is an investment holding company which owns and operates hotels and serviced residences in Singapore, China, Thailand, Vietnam and Laos.
The offeror said privatising AF Global will give it and the firm’s management more flexibility to manage business and optimise capital resources without the corresponding costs and regulatory restrictions associated with a listing on the Singapore Exchange.
It noted that AF Global’s listing status serves “limited purpose” as the group has not tapped the equity markets to raise funds since 2010 and is unlikely to do so, yet it continues to incur substantial costs associated with being listed.
It added that the offer is an opportunity for scheme shareholders to exit their investment, which may otherwise be difficult due to the stock’s low liquidity
The offer price of 11 cents represents a premium of about 23.6 per cent over AF Global’s closing price of 8.9 cents on Sept 29, which is the last undisturbed trading day before AF Global announced that it was reviewing opportunities to unlock shareholder value.
Shares of AF Global jumped 13.5 per cent, or 1.3 cents, to close at 10.9 cents on Oct 8. Aspial shares dropped 2.9 per cent, or 0.3 cent, to 10 cents.
