SINGAPORE (THE BUSINESS TIMES) - An offer made by a consortium of shareholders to take Perennial Real Estate Holdings private has turned unconditional, the real estate developer said in a bourse filing on Tuesday night (July 22).

It also extended the date of the close of the offer from Aug 3 to Aug 17.

Earlier last month, Perennial announced that an entity called Primero Investment Holdings was offering $0.95 a share in cash for all its shares.

Primero is a consortium that comprises Perennial's chief executive Pua Seck Guan, chairman Kuok Khoon Hong, vice-chairman Ron Sim, agri-food group Wilmar International, and Beaufort Investment Global Company.

The proposed offer was conditional upon Primero receiving enough acceptances to give it a 90 per cent stake in Perennial, as it intends to delist the company.

Primero said then that privatisation will allow Perennial to raise money more easily, operate more efficiently, optimise its resources, and focus on its "strategic pursuits of acquiring and developing integrated development projects next to transportation hubs, repositioning its operating assets and growing its healthcare management business".

The consortium on June 12 owned or had secured irrevocable undertakings for 82.43 per cent of Perennial's shares.

As at 5.30pm on Tuesday, it owned, controlled, acquired or agreed to acquire 90.5 per cent of the total number of Perennial's issued shares and 90.2 per cent of the company's maximum potential issued share capital.

The offer will remain open for acceptance until 5.30pm on Aug 17. Subsequently, Primero will exercise its right to compulsorily acquire all shares held by shareholders who have not accepted the offer, at $0.95 for each share.

Shares of Perennial ended Tuesday at 96 cents, up 1.5 cents or 1.6 per cent, before the announcement.