The conglomerate Keppel Corp has relaxed its offer to buy Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) without its media business and fueled the bidding war with state investor Temasek Holdings for control of the media and real estate company.
Singapore’s Keppel announced in a statement late Tuesday (Nov. 9) that it is now offering SPH shareholders $ 2.351 per share in cash plus shares, up on its original offering of $ 2.099, beating the $ 2.1 per share of the consortium affiliated with Temasek.
The upgraded offer comes weeks after the consortium, Cuscaden Peak here, made a superior bid over Keppel’s, escalating the bidding war among investors keeping tabs on SPH’s real estate assets, including shopping malls, student dormitories and facilities for the Elderly care include.
Keppel’s revised offer, which it said is “final and will not increase,” includes increasing the cash component of the offer by 20 Singapore cents per share and values SPH at $ 3.74 billion.
“While we believe this is an attractive acquisition, Keppel will remain disciplined. We are not going to buy SPH at any price and have made it clear that this is the final consideration, ”said Loh Chin Hua, CEO of Keppel.
“If the transaction is complete, SPH shareholders can receive their consideration by mid-January 2022,” he added.
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Keppel’s revised bid represents a premium of 8.8 percent over SPH’s last closing price of USD 2.160.
SPH, which has been in contact with Cuscaden since the offer was submitted in late October, confirmed Keppel’s revised offer in a separate statement and said it will hold a scheduled meeting for its shareholders until December 8 to approve the revised offer decide.
SPH has interests in a handful of shopping centers in Singapore and Australia, proprietary student residences in the UK and Germany, a private nursing home in Singapore and elderly care facilities in Japan.
