TalkMed receives privatisation offer at 45.6 cents per share
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The deal comes amid a slew of similar moves on the SGX in 2024, with 20 publicly traded companies privatised and delisted as at November.
PHOTO: ST FILE
SINGAPORE – Local cancer specialist TalkMed Group has received a privatisation offer from healthcare provider Tamarind Health.
The deal comes amid a slew of similar moves on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) in 2024, with 20 publicly traded companies privatised and delisted as at November.
The offer, made through Tamarind Health’s special purpose vehicle TW Troy, values TalkMed’s shares at 45.6 cents each.
This represents a premium over TalkMed’s share price on April 5, the last trading day before the company disclosed it had received an indication of interest from potential buyers.
The shares traded at 46 cents at noon on Dec 23.
In a bourse filing on Dec 23, TalkMed said its founding doctors, who collectively own 83.06 per cent of the company, have committed to selling their shares. The group includes chief executive Ang Peng Tiam, Dr Khoo Kei Siong, Dr Lim Hong Liang and Dr Teo Cheng Peng.
As part of the deal, Temasek-backed 65 Equity Partners will invest in Tamarind Health through its Local Enterprise Fund, which supports the growth of Singapore-based companies in their business expansion and regionalisation plans.
65 Equity Partners will hold 18.3 per cent of Tamarind’s voting interest after the transaction, while the founding doctors will retain 31.3 per cent.
TalkMed said the combined entity may consider the option of a future listing on SGX. It added that the move will better position it to attract patients from the region seeking “high quality and competitive” treatment.
TalkMed currently operates nine medical centres located across three Parkway-operated hospitals: Mount Elizabeth Orchard, Mount Elizabeth Novena and Gleneagles.
Singapore-headquartered Tamarind Health operates a network of healthcare facilities across Asia, including OncoCare, Solis, Luma, CanCare and Novena Heart Centre in Singapore; Icon Cancer Centre in Hong Kong; OncoCare and Can-Care in Malaysia; and Central Luzon Integrated Oncology Centre in the Philippines.
The deal comes after 20 publicly traded companies were privatised and delisted as at November, according to data from PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
The local bourse also recorded just four listings in 2024, raising relatively modest sums – its worst performance since PwC began tracking the data in 2011.
Maybank Research equity analyst Eric Ong said the recent spate of delistings on the SGX is likely due to low valuations and poor trading liquidity, particularly among small- to mid-cap companies.
“High listing and compliance costs, along with unattractive valuations compared with its comparables listed in other exchanges, may have also contributed to this trend,” he said.
