Hotel group Amara Holdings receives $514.6m privatisation offer from its bosses, other developers
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Amara Holdings is the hotel and property group that runs Amara Singapore in Tanjong Pagar.
PHOTO: SCREENGRAB FROM GOOGLE MAPS
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SINGAPORE - Amara Holdings, the hotel and property group that runs Amara Singapore in Tanjong Pagar, has received a $514.6 million takeover offer from a consortium involving its bosses and Singapore property developers Wing Tai and Hwa Hong Corp.
It is the second time Amara Holdings’ chairman and chief executive Albert Teo is attempting to take the company private.
The consortium, DRC Investments, on April 28 offered to buy all the shares of Singapore Exchange-listed Amara Holdings for 89.5 cents per share in cash.
The offer price represents a 33 per cent premium over Amara’s net asset value per share of 67.3 cents as at Dec 31, 2024.
It is also a 27 per cent premium over the company’s last transacted price of 70.5 cents per share on April 24, when trading of its shares were halted pending an announcement.
DRC Investments is owned by three parties: Shorea HwaHong Newfields VCC, linked to Hwa Hong Corp and the Newfields Group, with 35 per cent; Winteam Investment, a wholly owned subsidiary of Wing Tai Holdings, with 35 per cent; and Albertsons Capital, controlled by Amara’s Mr Teo and chief operating officer Dawn Teo, with 30 per cent.
In its April 28 statement, DRC Investments cited poor liquidity and market uncertainty as reasons for the offer.
It added that Amara Holdings has not needed to raise funds from the equity market since going public in 1997, making it less beneficial for the company to continue staying listed.
The consortium said it does not intend to revise its offer price for Amara Holdings, which it will take private once it secures at least 90 per cent of the voting shares by the close of the offer.
DRC Investments also said it has received irrevocable undertakings from Amethyst Assets, AT Relatives and other investors collectively holding 90.58 per cent of Amara Holdings, implying that the offer will go through if these parties validly accept the offer.
Amethyst Assets, which has a 76.2 per cent stake in Amara Holdings, is backed by Mr Teo and his family.
Amethyst Assets first offered to privatise Amara Holdings for 60 cents per share in November 2023, but fell short of the 90 per cent acceptance threshold needed to compulsorily acquire the company.
In a separate statement, Wing Tai, which is involved in property development, investment and retail, said the Amara Holdings investment will help it expand its core business, given the substantial overlap in both companies’ operations.
Wing Tai on April 28 also called for a trading halt pending the announcement.
This latest offer for Amara brings the number of potential delistings from the local bourse to at least six in 2025, including a 0.9 cent per share offer from the major shareholder of hospitality player ICP to take it private on April 20.
It also includes the expected delisting of Paragon Real Estate Investment Trust (Reit) on June 6, after unit holders on April 22 voted overwhelmingly for the 98 cents per share offer by Cuscaden Peak Investments to take the Reit private.
