OSIM chief offers to buy out the company at S$1.32 per share

THE chairman and chief executive officer of healthy lifestyle products provider OSIM International has made a voluntary unconditional cash offer of S$1.32 per share to take the company private.

Ron Sim Chye Hock made the offer through his private investment vehicle, Vision Three Pte Ltd. Mr Sim owns 506.5 million shares in OSIM, representing a 68.31 per cent stake as at March 7, 2016.

The offer price of S$1.32 per share is pegged at a premium of about 31.8 per cent and 33.5 per cent to the volume-weighted average traded price per share respectively for the one-month and three-month periods up to and including Feb 29, 2016.

OSIM said the offer provides an opportunity for its minority shareholders to sell their stakes at a significant premium over the prevailing share price amid challenging market conditions.

Mr Sim's bid to privatise the company comes after OSIM posted a 66 per cent drop in net profit to S$9 million for the fourth quarter of 2015. Its full-year net profit also halved to S$51 million for FY2015.

The Singapore unit of Credit Suisse is acting as exclusive financial adviser and Morgan Lewis Stamford as legal adviser to Mr Sim.

Shares in OSIM last traded at S$1.225 before a trading halt.