Frasers Centrepoint Ltd’s (FCL) bid to buy Australand Property Group in a deal worth around A$2.6 billion has been accepted by directors of the Australian company, the Singapore real estate giant said in a filing on the Australian stock exchange.
FCL’s offer of A$4.48 per Australand security was unanimously accepted by the Australian company’s board in the absence of a superior proposal. An independent expert had also described the offer as “fair and reasonable”.
The offer is, however, still subject to approval by Australia’s Foreign Investment Review Board.
FCL’s A$4.48 per security offer represents a 21.7 per cent premium to Australand’s net tangible asset value per security.
Singapore-listed FCL, whose main shareholder is Thai billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, is one of the city-state’s biggest property companies with total assets of around S$11.4 billion.
It manages two Singapore-listed real estate investment trusts, Frasers Centrepoint Trust and Frasers Commercial Trust, and it is in the process of listing a third.
Australand, which was once majority owned by Singapore’s CapitaLand, is involved in a wide range of real estate-related businesses including residential, commercial and industrial.
Analysts say the deal will help boost FCL’s recurring income base and diversify risk from the Singapore residential market, which has been hit by a raft of government cooling measures.
Source : Channel NewsAsia – 1 Jul 2014