The settlement is not expected to have a material impact on the company&rsquo s net tangible assets or earnings per share for the current financial year

 

Singapore Post (SingPost) : S08 -1.1% has settled long-drawn-out legal proceedings with a shares seller, with the terms behind the resolution of the disputes being confidential.

 

The national postal service provider said in a bourse filing on Monday (Jun 24) that it, together with subsidiaries SingPost Logistics Investments and Famous Holdings, had earlier in the day entered into a settlement agreement with Tan Ho Sung, also known as Taufiq Tan.

 

The disputes between the parties stemmed from a share-purchase agreement and shareholders&rsquo agreement in relation to freight forwarder Famous Holdings and its subsidiaries, with arbitration proceedings started as far back as FY2018.

 

Specifically, the deals were over the remaining 37.5 per cent shares in Famous Holdings that Tan transferred to SingPost Logistics Investments, following the exercise of the put option for those shares.

 

The terms of the settlement are confidential, but SingPost said that there was no admission of liability.

 

&ldquo The board of directors is of the view that the settlement of the disputes in accordance with the terms of the settlement agreement is in the best interests of the company. The settlement is not expected to have a material impact on the company&rsquo s net tangible assets or earnings per share for the current financial year,&rdquo SingPost said in the statement.

 

SingPost had in August said that it would pay Tan an additional S$1.7 million, or a total of S$61.7 million for the purchase of the remaining 37.5 per cent stake in Famous Holdings, as part of an arbitration award.

The pilot is designed to study the benefits of using MRT trains to collect postal items

 

SINGAPORE Post (SingPost) and SMRT&rsquo s business arm, Stellar Lifestyle, are launching a postal collection pilot project as part of their memorandum of understanding to explore deploying more postal service points near MRT stations.

 

For three months starting from Tuesday (Jun 25), up to two &ldquo mail ambassadors&rdquo in SingPost uniforms will collect postal items daily from the Tampines and Raffles Place MRT stations.

 

They will travel on the East-West Line between the off-peak hours of 11 am and 2 pm to bring these postal items to SingPost&rsquo s sorting facility located near the Paya Lebar MRT station.

 

SingPost and Stellar Lifestyle said the pilot was designed to study the benefits of utilising MRT trains to collect postal items, particularly in terms of operational cost efficiencies and carbon emission savings.

 

It also represents the first time SingPost will be using MRT trains for postal collection.

 

Should the pilot prove successful, both parties plan to expand the trial to more train stations across all other SMRT-operated lines.

 

SingPost will also determine where more POPStops and service points may be located in future. 

 

Describing SMRT&rsquo s rail network as &ldquo highly accessible&rdquo , SingPost&rsquo s chief executive officer for Singapore, Shahrin Abdol Salam, said its partnership with Stellar Lifestyle will allow the group to bring its services &ldquo closer to the community, seamlessly integrating into their daily routines&rdquo .

 

&ldquo The extension of our collaboration with Stellar Lifestyle will continue to bring convenience to consumers and small and medium-sized enterprises, by strategically situating our service points along key transportation nodes across Singapore,&rdquo he added.

 

Shahrin was formerly managing director of SMRT&rsquo s Thomson-East Coast Line and the senior vice-president of strategic relations at SMRT.

 

He was appointed to his current position at SingPost from May 1 this year.

This is part of the national postal service provider&rsquo s plans to achieve scale in the country

 

SINGAPORE Post (SingPost) announced on Friday (Jun 21) its appointment of Merrill Lynch Markets Australia as a financial adviser to its board.

 

SingPost : S08 +2.22% said that the adviser will work with its board to &ldquo formulate optionalities for the group&rsquo s Australia business specifically&rdquo .

 

The group plans to achieve scale in Australia by exploring near-term partnerships that can contribute to growth.

 

It said that this will provide equity to deleverage its acquisition debt, and establish an independent valuation benchmark. The group also intends to continue seeking opportunities for mergers and acquisitions and future liquidity options.

 

The national postal service provider had reported on Mar 19 its completion of a strategic review of its portfolio, and identified five strategic thrusts that it plans to undertake in the next three years.

 

A subsidiary of SingPost previously acquired Border Express, a pallet and parcel distribution operator in Australia, for a maximum purchase consideration of A$210 million (S$183 million). 

 

With the acquisition, the group plans to strengthen its position as one of the top five logistics companies in Australia, by revenue size.

 

Its other strategic thrusts include reorganising the group into three business units of Singapore, Australia and International, as well as transforming its urban logistics and deliveries business in Singapore.

 

It also identified a list of assets and businesses that are non-core to its strategy, which can be monetised as part of the group&rsquo s capital recycling.