Amara shares surge 27% on privatisation offer
SINGAPORE - Shares of hotel group Amara soared shortly after the market opened on April 29, after news broke on Monday that it received a voluntary conditional general offer at S$0.895 apiece.
The counter hit an intraday high of S$0.895 at 9.09 am on Tuesday as 172,400 shares changed hands – marking a rise of S$0.19 or 27 per cent from its latest closing price for Monday, when it finished unchanged at S$0.705 after news of the offer broke.
This is the highest price it has reached in the year to date and marks a 57 per cent or S$0.325 increase from its closing price of S$0.57 for Dec 31, 2024, as shares of the group have been on a steady uptrend through the year.
By 9.47 am, it eased down to S$0.885 – still up from Monday's close by S$0.18 or 25.5 per cent – with some 209,400 shares transacted.
On Monday, Amara received a privatisation offer from a consortium led by property company Hwa Hong, which was formerly listed on the Singapore Exchange.
The offeror, a special-purpose vehicle called DRC Investments, cited low trading liquidity and challenging macroeconomic conditions as the rationale behind its intent to privatise the company.
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 chairman and chief executive Albert Teo and chief operating officer Dawn Teo, with 30 per cent.
In a separate statement on Monday, 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.
The S$0.895 offer represents a 33 per cent premium over Amara's net asset value per share as at end-December 2024. THE BUSINESS TIMES
Additional information from The Straits Times
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