CapitaLand's loss could be FCL's gain in Australand deal

WHAT does Frasers Centrepoint Limited (FCL) see in Australand Property Group that escaped CapitaLand?

This must be a question on some market watchers' minds after FCL said yesterday that it had submitted a conditional cash proposal to acquire up to a 100 per cent stake in Australand at A$4.48 per stapled security, totalling A$2.6 billion (S$3 billion). FCL has entered into a four-week, exclusive due-diligence period, after which the plan is to launch a binding offer. A key condition is that FCL receives minimum 50.1 per cent acceptance.

CapitaLand had a 59.1 per cent stake in Australand, which it divested itself of in two stages: 20 per cent last November at A$3.685 a stapled security or a total of A$426 million, followed by a sale of the balance 39.12 per cent stake at A$3.75 each raising A$848.8 million. "This divestment would allow us to reallocate capital to our core businesses in Singapore and China," CapitaLand's group CEO Lim Ming Yan said in March.