In Asia’s biggest buyout, Singapore’s GLP sold to Chinese group for $11.6 bn
AChinese consortium agreed to pay S$16 billion ($11.6 billion) for Global Logistic Properties, the warehouse operator backed by Singapore’s sovereign wealth fund, in Asia’s biggest buyout.
GLP accepted the takeover offer from a management-backed group that includes private equity firms Hillhouse Capital Management and Hopu Investment Management. The group, which also includes founder Ming Mei’s SMG, Bank of China Group Investment and a unit of China Vanke, offered S$3.38 a share, GLP said in a statement to Singapore’s stock exchange.
GLP shares, which were suspended, surged 22 per cent to S$3.29 after trading resumed in Singapore. The offer exceeds the shares’ highest closing price since listing and represents a 64 per cent premium to the price before Singaporean sovereign wealth fund GIC Pte., GLP’s largest shareholder, initiated a strategic review of the company in December.
GIC, which owns about 37 per cent of the company, will vote in favour of the offer, the statement said. However, GIC could accept an unsolicited, higher bid that isn’t matched by the Chinese-led group.
“In view of the premium paid and the low conditionality of the deal, any potential counterbidder will have their work cut out for them,” Justin Tang, a director of global special situations at Religare Capital Markets in Singapore, said in an email.
E-commerce companies such as Alibaba Group Holding and JD.com are driving a boom in demand for warehouse space in Asia. The deal will be the largest private equity buyout of an Asian company by enterprise value, surpassing last year’s takeover of Qihoo 360 Technology, data compiled by Bloomberg show. It would be the secondlargest logistics deal this year after China Investment agreed to buy Blackstone Group LP’s European logistics business for ^12.25 billion ($13.8 billion) in June.
The winning group edged out a rival consortium led by Warburg Pincus, according to people with knowledge of the matter.