Another Competing Offer for Singapore Press Holdings- S$2.10 PAID FULLY In CASH And Points To Note By Shareholders

Wow, I was shocked by the sudden trading halt and new announcement made by Singapore Press Holdings ("SPH") today.  Cuscaden (Consortium made up of Capitaland, Mapletree and Ong Beng Seng) announced that it has on 28 October 2021 submitted to the board of directors of SPH (the "Board") a proposal to acquire (the "Proposed Acquisition") all the issued and paid-up ordinary shares in the capital of SPH! What is even better, Cuscaden further announced that its offer of S$2.10 per share, will be paid for all in hard cash. Breaking news indeed! With the new all-cash offer on hand, I expect the share price of SPH to shoot up immediately from S$1.99 per share to at least S$2.10 per share. 

Extract of proposed offer S$2.10 all in hard cash

1.Dream come true!

Back in my previous 8th August 2021 posting, I have mentioned that shareholders need to get rid of the loss making Media segments first which will open up doors to other competing offers. Happy that the new competing offer materialize. Guess shareholders like myself do not need to take up Keppel Corp's offer of part cash along with Keppel Office REIT and SPH REIT as consideration. Getting units in odd lot as well as Keppel Office REIT are actually something that I do not want. 

Extract of previous posting on 8th August 2021

2.Safer deal for SPH shareholders- superiority to Keppel Corp's offer

The good thing about the Cuscaden deal is not just the all cash offer. The other added advantage is that the new scheme of offer will not be subject to any further shareholders' approval on the part of Cuscaden and its consortium members unlike the one from Keppel Corp.

3. Will Keppel Corp revised its offer price?

With the competing offer, there is a chance that Keppel Corp might revise its offer. Even if it did not win the acquisition, Keppel Corp will walk away with a break fees of S$34Mil from SPH. So it is a win-win situation for Keppel Corp.

4. Parting thoughts and points to take note by existing shareholders

Well, I am extremely excited by the new offer. Let's see whether there will be a bidding war between Keppel Corp and Cuscaden. Existing shareholders should not just sell off their shares immediately upon lifting of the trading halt. Please wait for the dividend ex-date of 22 November 2021 to pocket the S$0.03 dividends per share also. The S$2.10 offer will still be waiting there for picking up by shareholders. Of course, if the market price reaches S$2.13 before ex-dividend date, shareholders can consider selling off immediately. However, it maybe wise to hold first to see whether there are better counter-offer from Keppel Corp. Even better, there maybe another consortium or equity fund coming in with a 3rd bid. 

Note:

Please also refer to my previous post- "The Keppel Corp and SPH Deal That You Need to Be Careful On- NOT Done Deal Yet."