CHIP Eng Seng chairman Celine Tang&rsquo s voluntary conditional cash offer to acquire the property player has turned mandatory, after she and her husband, Gordon Tang, purchased 6.3 million shares of Chip Eng Seng in early trade on Friday (Nov 25).

 

The couple acquired the new shares at a price of S$0.72 apiece, bringing their total shareholding of Chip Eng Seng : C29 0% to about 42.3 per cent, or some 331.4 million shares.

 

As the Tangs&rsquo enlarged shareholding percentage represents more than 1 per cent of the company&rsquo s voting rights, the Singapore Exchange (SGX) rule on mandatory general offers was triggered.

 

Chip Eng Seng requested for a trading halt on Friday morning amid heavy trading volumes, but by the end of the midday trading break it had asked for a trade resumption.

 

Shares of Chip Eng Seng were trading flat at S$0.73 as at 1.29 pm, after the trading halt was lifted. 

 

The Tang couple tabled the original voluntary conditional offer on Thursday through Tang Dynasty Treasure, an investment holding company under their ownership. They intended to acquire all issued ordinary shares of Chip Eng Seng at S$0.72 apiece, with the end goal of privatising and delisting the property player from the SGX should they attain more than 90 per cent of the shares.

 

According to the offer announcement issued by UOB on the offeror&rsquo s behalf, the terms of the offer remain unchanged.

 

The Tang couple still intends to fully acquire Chip Eng Seng&rsquo s issued ordinary shares at a price tag of S$0.72 each, with the offer to turn unconditional upon holding more than 50 per cent of the shares at the offer&rsquo s close. 

 

The Tangs will need to attain more than 90 per cent of Chip Eng Seng&rsquo s shares in order to take the company private. The couple recently privatised Singhaiyi Group at a significant discount to its net asset value. Singhaiyi was delisted from SGX on Jan 31.

Celine Tang and Gordon Tang also recently privatised SingHaiyi Group at a significant discount to its net asset value

CHIP Eng Seng&rsquo : C29 0%s chairman Celine Tang and her husband Gordon Tang have together tabled a voluntary conditional cash offer to acquire all issued ordinary shares in the property player at a price tag of S$0.72 apiece, with the end goal of privatising and delisting the company from the Singapore Exchange (SGX) should they attain more than 90 per cent of shares.

 

The offeror is Tang Dynasty Treasure &ndash an investment holding company owned by the Tang couple who also recently privatised SingHaiyi Group at a significant discount to its net asset value. SingHaiyi was delisted from SGX on Jan 31. 

 

In a press release on Thursday (Nov 24) evening, Chip Eng Seng said this consideration represents a year-to-date return of some 80.5 per cent, and a premium of about 36.9 per cent over the volume weighted average price (VWAP) for the company&rsquo s shares for the 12-month period prior to and including the holding announcement date of Sep 7. 

 

The premiums of the consideration over the VWAP for the one-month, three-month and six-month period stands at 8.6 per cent, 21.4 per cent and 28.3 per cent respectively, the company said. 

 

However, the offer translates to a discount of 27.3 per cent when compared to Chip Eng Seng&rsquo s group net asset value of S$0.9906 as at Jun 30.

 

The Tang couple jointly own just shy of 290.7 million shares of Chip Eng Seng. Gordon Tang also personally owns 9.1 million shares. This means the duo own about 38.23 per cent of Chip Eng Seng&rsquo s total shares.

 

Senz Holdings, a company owned by Gordon Tang&rsquo s mother Yang Chanzhen and the Tang couple&rsquo s son Tang Jialin, holds a 3.22 per cent stake in Chip Eng Seng. 

 

Chip Eng Seng said the offer gives shareholders an opportunity to realise their investments &ldquo at a premium without incurring brokerage frees&rdquo . 

 

The offeror also said the move will &ldquo strengthen competitiveness and optimise resources&rdquo . It noted that SingHaiyi and Chip Eng Seng had entered into &ldquo numerous joint ventures&rdquo to leverage on the collective experience and expertise to deliver superior products to consumers. 

 

&ldquo Due to rising interest and inflation rates, the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic as well as geopolitical tensions ensuing from the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict, property developers in Singapore are operating in a challenging environment,&rdquo the offer documents said. 

 

&ldquo On the back of the macro headwinds, the offeror believes that this offer will provide the offeror with greater control to manage the overall business, optimise and streamline the resources to improve operational efficiency and effectiveness.&rdquo

 

The offeror has appointed UOB as its sole financial adviser.