BENGALURU (REUTERS) - Razer said on Thursday (Dec 2) that a group led by its top executives has proposed to take the gaming hardware maker private in a deal that values the Hong Kong-listed company at HK$24.7 billion (S$4.3 billion).
The group, led by chairman Tan Min-Liang and non-executive director Lim Kaling, who are Razer's co-founders and own around 57 per cent of the company, are offering HK$2.82 a share for the remainder of the company, Razer said in a stock exchange filing.
The consortium believes that Razer, with headquarters in the United States and Singapore, has suffered from low trading volumes and has been undervalued in Hong Kong.
The offer price is a premium of around 44 per cent to Razer's closing price on Oct 28, the day before it went into a trading halt to announce that the chairman and others were talking to the company about a deal. It is also a premium of 5.6 per cent to Wednesday's close.
A deal would further feed a surge in strategic investors and buyout firms tapping Hong Kong companies for take-private opportunities, lured by undervalued shares.
Hong Kong-listed firms have been involved in US$8.15 billion (S$11 billion) worth of take-private deals so far this year, versus US$23 billion for all of last year, Refinitiv data showed.
Earlier reports said Mr Tan and Mr Lim aim to eventually list Razer in New York to exploit higher valuations for technology stocks.
Founded in 2005, Razer has expanded from wireless mice to make gaming laptops and keyboards, as well as other accessories.
It swung to a record net profit of US$31.3 million in the first half of this year - riding a gaming boom as lockdowns over Covid-19 kept people at home - versus a net loss of US$17.7 million a year earlier.
The US accounted for 42 per cent of first-half revenue.
Razer went public at HK$3.88 per share in the Asian financial hub in 2017, in a stellar debut powered by strong retail demand for new technology stocks.
But its share price more than halved last month from this year's peak of HK$3.36 in February, while the benchmark Hang Seng Index fell 24 per cent over the same period.
Razer shares were trading at HK$2.46, down 7.9 per cent, at 3.14pm on Thursday.
