Hayleys to acquire Singer Sri Lanka for Rs.12.5bn
Diversified conglomerate Hayleys PLC, continuing with its buying spree, yesterday struck a mega deal to acquire a 71 percent stake in leading consumer durables retailer Singer (Sri Lanka) PLC (SSL) in a whopping Rs.12.5 billion deal.
The Hayleys group, controlled by business magnate Dhammika Perera, last month acquired Sri Lanka Shipping Company Limited, in its quest to become Sri Lanka’s largest shipping and maritime company, for Rs.4.9 billion.
Hayleys yesterday said it entered into an agreement with Retail Holdings (Sri Lanka) B.V. (RHSL) to purchase its 231.8 million shares constituting 61.73 percent in SSL by itself and its nominee at a price of Rs.47 per share. Hayleys has also entered into a further agreement to purchase, either by itself or through its nominee, the balance shareholding of 35.5 million shares constituting of 9.47 percent held by RHSL in SSL, within a period of 12 to 15 months from the date of the initial transaction, at the option of RHSL at a price of Rs.47 a share.
SSL’S net asset value per share as at June 30, 2017 stood at Rs.20.22.
SSL in a stock exchange filing said following the transaction, Hayleys will become its controlling shareholder and will be obliged to make a mandatory offer to the remaining SSL shareholders under the Company Takeovers and Mergers Code of the Securities and Exchange Commission.
The trading of shares of SSL and Hayleys on the Colombo bourse was halted yesterday pending announcements from the two companies.
Amid takeover speculations, SSL shares on Tuesday soared by Rs.8.10 to close at Rs.52.50.
RHSL is a subsidiary of Hong Kong-based Singer Asia, whose parent is Retial Holdings N.V. Apart from Sri Lanka, Singer Asia operates subsidiaries in Bangladesh and India. It had been speculated for some time that Retail Holdings N.V. was looking to divest its Asian operations.