Friday, October 29, 2010

Private investor Peter Lim makes general offer for Thomson Medical Centre

Written by The Edge
Friday, 29 October 2010 20:11


Sasteria, an investment holding company controlled by private investor Peter Lim, today said it is making a mandatory conditional cash offer for Mainboard-listed Thomson Medical Centre.

The mandatory conditional offer is triggered by a married deal between Sasteria and the largest shareholder and founder of Thomson Medical, Dr Cheng Wei Chen and his family. Under the deal, the latter sold their 39.34% stake in Thomson Medical to the former at the offer price of S$1.75 a share.

Under the Singapore Code on Takeovers and Mergers, the cash offer will be extended to the remaining issued shares and is conditional on Sasteria acquiring more than 50% of Thomson Medical.

The offer price of $1.75 represents a 62% premium over the last traded price of Thomson Medical, and values the company at approximately $513 million. It is also the highest share price the company has ever been valued at since it went public in 2005.

Peter Lim says: “Thomson Medical is a leading healthcare service provider in Singapore for obstetrics, gynaecology and paediatric services. Given the growing population and affluence in the region, there will be increasing demand for private healthcare services. Singapore is a regional hub for such services and Thomson Medical is well-placed to tap on this demand. We believe it has potential to develop further as a regional healthcare company.”

Lim, 57, is a Singaporean businessman with extensive interests in a range of industries including agribusiness, fashion, logistics, food and beverage and healthcare. He is the second largest shareholder of F J Benjamin Holdings. More recently, Lim became a cornerstone investor in Global Logistic Properties (GLP), the largest provider of modern logistic facilities in Asia.

Thursday, October 21, 2010

IPO gravy train back on track with GLP debut

Thu, Oct 21, 2010
The Business Times

By Jamie Lee

SINGAPORE - Global Logistic Properties (GLP) lived up to its billing on its trading debut yesterday, with the stock surging as much as 12 per cent.

This should help pave the way for more initial public offerings (IPOs) to come to market over the next few months, market watchers say, noting that GLP's good start - coupled with Mapletree Industrial Trust's (MIT) expected strong debut this Thursday - should inspire confidence in the listings market.

GLP shares shot to $2.19 at the start of trading before easing to $2.17 by the closing bell, up 21 cents from its IPO price of $1.96. Some 514 million GLP shares worth $1.11 billion changed hands in a single day.

'The performance was pretty much in line with what people expected,' said Chan Tuck Sing, UOB-Kay Hian executive director.

But the share price could pull back in the coming weeks since retail investors - who are likely to be the price movers for this stock - might have already picked up the gains they were looking for, while the upcoming debut of MIT could divert some interest from GLP, Mr Chan added. 'As far as institutional investors are concerned, I don't think there's a real need for them to chase the stock. So we might see the price consolidate.'

But Loh Hoon Sun, managing director of Phillip Securities, said that there should be some support for GLP if retail investors see the stock as a long-term investment.

GLP - which has Government of Singapore Investment Corporation (GIC) as its single-largest shareholder - could become the world's largest real estate IPO, if it exercises its overallotment option.

The world record is currently held by Hong Kong- listed Link real estate investment trust (Reit) which, in 2005, raised US$2.9 billion in its IPO.

GLP's IPO is Singapore's second-largest after Singapore Telecommunications' IPO in 1993, which raised S$4 billion.

Of the 1.76 billion GLP shares offered, 1.07 billion shares were placed out to institutional players and other investors in Singapore.

Another 102 million shares - or 5.82 per cent - were offered to the public, while 589 million shares were set aside for cornerstone investors. These include Alibaba Group, CB Richard Ellis, ING Clarion Real Estate Securities, Lion Global Investors, and former 'remisier king' Peter Lim.

GLP's cornerstone investors are free to sell their shares at any time, since they are not limited to a lock-up period for the shares they own, GLP's prospectus showed.

GLP's IPO also saw a windfall of $74.4 million for its CEO Ming Z Mei and its deputy chairman Jeffrey Schwartz, who sold 37.97 million vendor shares in total as part of the IPO.

Both own Schwartz-Mei Group (SMG), which held 6.8 per cent of GLP, with GIC holding the remainder.

Post-IPO, SMG's stake has been halved to 3.4 per cent, while GIC will hold a 51.5 per cent stake if the greenshoe option is fully exercised.

Friday, October 15, 2010

Peter Lim withdraws bid for Liverpool

by Ian De Cotta 05:55 AM Oct 15, 2010 SINGAPORE

The battle for Liverpool has virtually ended for Singapore billionaire Peter Lim as he feels its board is intent on selling to New England Sports Ventures, at the exclusion of all other parties regardless of the merits of their bids.

In a statement last night, Mr Lim announced he was withdrawing his bid. "I have tried to engage constructively with the board and Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) based on an offer, funded from my existing resources, providing greater value for Liverpool Football Club," said the 57-year-old tycoon.

"The board and RBS have chosen not to respond or to discuss my offer with me. My representatives even offered to meet the board last night. This was ignored, although NESV was invited to attend that meeting."

Mr Lim added that his interest in acquiring the club remains if circumstances change.

Said Mr Lim: "I would however extend my very best wishes to Liverpool Football Club, the staff and players, and the fans, who really deserve better than this. I hope the club now moves towards realising its potential and achieves success on the pitch."

The 18-time English champions are mired in debts and have made their worst start to the Premiership campaign in close to half a century.

Co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett lost a London High Court case against the Liverpool hierarchy and major creditors Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) on Wednesday that paved the way for the sale of the club to NESV.

But the American duo stalled the proceedings after successfully obtaining a temporary restraining order from a Dallas court on the same day.

Liverpool chairman Martin Broughton and RBS returned to the London High Court yesterday to fight the restraining order.

The Merseyside outfit face a nine-point deduction should the club fail to pay the £230 million Hicks and Gillett owe RBS by today and goes into administration.

Reds legend Phil Thompson warned it would take more than money to rejuvenate the club.

Speaking to MediaCorp in an exclusive interview - before Mr Lim's announcement to withdraw his bid - the former Liverpool defender said Mr Lim would probably be good for Liverpool, but is not sure the highest bidder is necessary the best to get the Liverpool board's nod.

"At this moment in time, anything is better than what we have from Gillett and Hicks," Mr Thompson told MediaCorp.

"I welcome serious people as long as they are serious about Liverpool football club ... but whoever the new owners are, they have to understand what Liverpool is all about, as well as our fans and culture.

MediaCorp understand that whoever wrests control of the five-time European champions must be committed to develop a new stadium and continually invest in "world-class players".

Mr Thompson added: "I don't want to hear false promises. I don't want to hear things like 'We will build a stadium very, very soon' ... the new owners must show they can bring stability to the club ... Everybody now has to pull in one direction, and that is when the performance on the pitch will improve."

Tuesday, October 12, 2010

A Singaporean bids for Liverpool

Former 'remisier king' Peter Lim ready to swoop if Boston bid fails

11:55 AM Oct 12, 2010 LONDON

On the eve of a court battle to decide the future ownership of Liverpool, a new contender - Singapore billionaire Peter Lim - is reportedly ready to make a higher offer for the club.

Mr Lim originally matched the £300 million ($622 million) being offered by the Boston bidders to wipe out the club's debts, two people with knowledge of the situation told The Associated Press yesterday. They spoke on condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the proceedings.

But Mr Lim, who was ranked 655th on Forbes magazine's list of global billionaires in March with an estimated net worth of about $2 billion, was told by text message last week that Liverpool chairman Martin Broughton, managing director Christian Purslow and commercial director Ian Ayre had rejected his offer in favour of one from New England Sports Ventures (NESV), which owns the Boston Red Sox baseball team.

Sportingintelligence reporting Mr Lim, once known as Singapore's "remisier king", as saying he was "surprised and disappointed" not to have gotten the chance to outbid NESV.

The Boston group have now signed a binding agreement, but Liverpool co-owners Tom Hicks and George Gillett Jr are trying to block the sale because they say it undervalues the club.

Such is the uncertainty surrounding Liverpool's future - the club's owners will face their chief creditors Royal Bank of Scotland in the High Court later today - Mr Lim believes his chances of a successful takeover remain alive.

Liverpool has debts and liabilities of about £285 million. Reports claim that Mr Lim, like NESV, is offering to repay all of Liverpool's £200 million long-term debt, take on £60 million of other debt and inject £40 million of working capital. Also on the table is millions of pounds for manager Roy Hodgson to improve on the squad during the January transfer window.

This capital, it is reported, would come from his own fortune, rather than through borrowing. Mr Lim is the eighth-richest man in Singapore, having made his fortune in stockbroking, and owns a string of Manchester United-themed bars across Asia.

It is understood that the Liverpool board is concerned that NESV will have to borrow to finance the takeover, which could leave the club in the same position as it is under Hicks and Gillett, a major point of concern among the football club's frustrated fans.

RBS wants the sale to the Red Sox owners to proceed and has already held off from putting the club into financial administration, a form of bankruptcy protection, or demanding instant repayment of the club's debts. Although Mr Lim's intervention will be immaterial if RBS wins the case, which could take several days to resolve, it may prove problematic for RBS and Liverpool if it aids the argument of Hicks and Gillett that they could have achieved a higher price for the club they still own. AGENCIES