THE voluntary cash offer for Amara Holdings : A34 0% closed on Tuesday (Jan 16), with offeror Amethyst Assets garnering 88.39 per cent in shareholding interest.

This fell short of the 90 per cent threshold for acceptances, which would have allowed the offeror to exercise its right of compulsory acquisition over the hotel group. 

As at 5.30 pm on Tuesday, Amethyst Assets received valid acceptances representing about 72.73 per cent of the total number of shares in the company. 

In November 2023, Amethyst Assets – a consortium linked to Albert Teo, Amara’s chief executive, other members of his family and private equity investor Dymon Asia – made the privatisation offer, citing low trading liquidity and a challenging growth outlook. 

The stock has had an average trading volume of 31,473 shares over the 12-month period up to Jun 15. This represented less than 0.02 per cent of the company’s total issued shares.

Amethyst also said high interest rates had raised borrowing costs, impacting Amara’s profitability. 

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As the offeror did not secure 90 per cent or more of the total shares, it will not be able to buy over the shares of shareholders who did not accept the offer. 

Independent financial adviser Xandar Capital had deemed the offer price of S$0.60 “fair and reasonable”. 

The offer price represented a premium of 53.8 per cent over Amara’s share price of S$0.39 on Jun 15, before the company announced that its key shareholders were in talks over a possible transaction, Amethyst said. 

It also represented a 70.5 per cent premium over Amara’s volume-weighted average price for the one month up to Jun 15, and a 75.4 per cent premium over the three-month period.

Amara’s hotel portfolio comprises its flagship Amara Singapore in Tanjong Pagar, Amara Sanctuary Resort Sentosa, Amara Signature Shanghai (China) and Amara Bangkok (Thailand). 

Shares of Amara closed flat at S$0.60 on Jan 16.