Asia-Pacific Strategic Investments Ltd.'s plans to acquire a 46.91% interest in IPC Corp. Ltd. fell through when Singapore-based tycoon Oei Hong Leong pulled out from the deal, having previously accepted a conditional offer to sell 28,111,320 shares, or about 32.96% stake Jan. 29.
The offeror received a letter from Oei, in which he stated his intentions to withdraw his initial acceptance of the offer for his entire stake in IPC, according to a release. The transaction would have prompted the buyer to make a mandatory unconditional offer for the remaining share capital of IPC, according to an earlier release.
With regard to the withdrawal, The (Singapore) Business Times noted Asia-Pacific Strategic Investments saying it was seeking professional advice and would provide updates as and when material developments arose.
In the March 2 report, the paper added that the company, which planned to acquire IPC by issuing 133 new, fully paid-up ordinary shares for every target share, intended for IPC to retain its listing status and existing business activities. The offer price translated into a 28.2% premium to the last traded price of IPC shares on the Jan. 26 last trading day prior to the announcement, as well as a 6.6% discount to the volume-weighted average price for the three-month period to Jan. 26.
Asia-Pacific Strategic Investments planned to acquire the roughly 13.95% balance of the 46.91% interest from IPC chairman and CEO Patrick Ngiam; executive directors of the company Benjamin Ngiam, Alfred Ngiam and Lauw Hui Kian; and Essex Investments and their nominees, according to an earlier release.
