SINGAPORE (April 13): United Industrial Corporation (UIC), a subsidiary of UOL Group, is acquiring a further 24.27% stake in its 53.07%-owned indirect subsidiary Marina Centre Private Holdings (MCH) for $485.3 million to be paid in cash.
10%, 10.27% and 4% of the sale shares will be purchased from vendors OUE Limited, Finnegan Investments Limited, and Mackmoor Pte Ltd for $200 million, $205.3 million and $80 million, respectively.
Additionally, UIC will also acquire a 25% holding in Aquamarina Hotel Private Limited (AHPL), an associated company of MCH and UIC Group, from OUE’s subsidiary Hotel Investment (Marina) for a sum of $190 million.
MCH is a property group with investments in the Marina Square retail and commercial complex, comprising Marina Square Shopping Mall and the Marina Square hotels, namely: Pan Pacific Singapore, Marina Mandarin Singapore, and the Mandarin Oriental, Singapore.
On the other hand, AHPL is 50% owned by MCH and owns the Marina Mandarin Singapore. As at end-Dec 2018, sale shares of AHPL were estimated to have a net asset value (NAV) of $1.52 per share.
Upon completion of the acquisitions, UIC will hold a total 77.34% stake in MCH, with the remaining 22.66% to be held by its holding company UOL Group.
MCH will hold a 75% stake in AHPL, which will become a subsidiary of MCH and an indirect subsidiary of UIC. The remaining 25% of AHPL’s interest are held, and will continue to be held, by UOL’s wholly-owned subsidiary UOL Equity Investments.
With the acquisitions, OUE’s subsidiary Singapore Marina International Hotels has also agreed to cease operating the Marina Mandarin Singapore by end-2019.
In a late night filing on Friday, UIC says all of the sale shares for MCH and AHPL will be acquired free from all encumbrances and together with all rights, dividends and entitlements attaching and/or accruing to them from the date of completion of the respective acquisitions.
Assuming that the MCH and AHPL acquisitions had been completed by end-Dec 2018, UIC estimates the proforma consolidated NTA of UIC to increase to $6.9 billion from $6.8 billion previously.
Proforma earnings per share would have increased to 37.3 cents from 21.9 cents previously had the acquisitions been completed by end-Jan 2018.
UIC intends to fund its acquisition of MCH using both internal financial resources and external bank borrowings, and likewise for the subsequent purchase for AHPL.
Shares in UIC closed 1 cent lower at $2.91 on Friday.
