SGX to make £77.6m offer for Baltic Exchange

SINGAPORE Exchange (SGX) will make a formal offer of £77.6 million (S$137.2 million), or £160.41 per share, in cash for a full takeover of the Baltic Exchange.

If SGX's offer becomes effective, Baltic Exchange's existing shareholders are also expected to receive a final cash dividend of at least £18.80 per share, or about £9.1 million in total, on top of SGX's offer, the SGX said in a statement on Thursday after the market closed. The SGX operates Singapore's stock market.

The exchange said that it will proceed to solicit support from privately held Baltic Exchange's roughly 380 shareholders.

The offer price comes around the mid-range of market speculation. News reports on Wednesday put expectations betwen US$80 million and US$120 million.

SGX's offer without the final dividend represents about 40 to 45 times Baltic Exchange's £1.3 million after-tax profit in 2015, after accounting for property valued at about £20 million to £25 million.