Khazanah wants to enhance presence in healthcare industry

Friday June 11, 2010




By RISEN JAYASEELAN

risen@thestar.com.my



PETALING JAYA: Khazanah Nasional Bhd said the rationale for its partial offer for shares in Singapore-listed Parkway Healthcare Ltd was driven by an intention to further enhance its presence in the healthcare industry in the region.



In an offer document issued by Khazanah yesterday, it said it was “seeking to acquire a controlling interest in the Parkway to strengthen Khazanah’s commitment to both Parkway and the healthcare industry.



“The partial offer is a key step for Khazanah towards building a more integrated regional healthcare platform.”



It added that “Khazanah intends to work together with Parkway’s current management team to enhance and grow Parkway for the benefit of shareholders. If Khazanah is able to obtain a majority shareholding in Parkway, Khazanah would leverage on its extensive business network throughout the region (including its current healthcare investments) to create synergies for Parkway.”



The document also reiterated that the offer price at S$3.78 per Parkway share was at a “25.2% premium to the closing price of S$3.02 per share on May 26, 2010, being the last trading day prior to Khazanah’s announcement of its offer.”



However, this is of less relevance to Parkway shareholders now, considering that the Singapore company’s share price closed 9 sen above Khazanah’s offer price yesterday.



Based on numbers revealed in the offer document, it is estimated that Khazanah’s cost of investment in Parkway is around S$3.40 per share.



To recap, Khazanah had purchased the bulk of its shares in Parkway in 2008 at a hefty price of S$4.20 per share.



The shares were acquired from private equity funds under the management of Symphony Capital Partners.



The price of S$4.20 was at a premium of more than 20% over Parkway’s last-traded price.



However, since then Khazanah increased its shareholding in Parkway to 23.8%, buying from the open market and subscribing to a heavily-discounted rights issue by Parkway.



According to Khazanah’s offer document, its investment at cost in Parkway was at US$658.9mil (S$930.1mil), which works out to a price per share of around S$3.40 per share, based on the 269.8 million Parkway shares it owns.



The actual figure may vary slightly due to currency exchange changes.



Khazanah also said in its offer document that it intended to keep Parkway listed in Singapore and that it was fully committed to implement best-in-class corporate governance in Parkway.


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