CVC, Standard Chartered said to weigh Amtek Engineering sale

[SINGAPORE] CVC Capital Partners and Standard Chartered Private Equity are exploring a sale of their majority stake in Amtek Engineering Ltd, which makes parts for companies including Tesla Motors Inc, people with knowledge of the matter said.

The buyout firms are working with Rippledot Capital Advisers Pte on a possible sale of their holdings in the Singapore company, the people said, asking not to be named as the process is private. They own a combined 58 per cent stake valued at S$212 million at the current share price, data compiled by Bloomberg show.

Amtek, which also counts Dell Inc as a customer, plans to double sales to US$2 billion in five to seven years through acquisitions, Chief Executive Officer Daniel Yeong said in an interview in March 2014. Last year, it bought US precision- tool maker Interplex Industries Inc for about US$210 million.

The private equity firms may wait until Interplex is fully integrated before actively seeking buyers, one of the people said. Representatives for CVC and Standard Chartered Private Equity declined to comment.

Shares of Amtek fell 5.6 per cent in Singapore trading Friday, the most since May 2014.

Amtek's Mr Yeong said in an interview in Singapore on Thursday the private-equity investors are "continuously looking" at opportunities to sell their stakes and shareholder changes are a normal part of running a public company.

"It's a very attractive company now, a lot more than it was ever before," Mr Yeong said. "I think if they want to sell, it's going to attract a lot of buyers."

Shares of Amtek have risen 18 per cent this year, giving the company a market value of S$366 million, while the benchmark Straits Times Index has fallen 1.9 percent. Under Singapore rules, any buyer of the buyout firms' stakes would need to make a general offer for the remaining shares held by other investors.

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