Datapulse Tech to buy haircare business for S$3.5m
Singapore
MAINBOARD-LISTED Datapulse Technology announced after Tuesday's trading hours that it has entered into a deal to buy out Malaysia-incorporated haircare manufacturing business, Wayco Manufacturing, from Way Company Pte Ltd for S$3.5 million in cash.
Datapulse said that the consideration has been agreed upon between the two parties after taking into account the six-month unaudited net profit and unaudited net tangible asset (NTA) value of Wayco.
The company added that its new chief executive, Kee Swee Ann, was the former general manager of Way Company from 2008 to 2010 and was involved in the management of Wayco Manufacturing.
Wayco posted RM160,632 (S$53,201) in unaudited net profit for the six months ended Jun 30 and its unaudited NTA value was over RM7.63 million as at Jun 30.
Wayco, which also manufactures cosmetics and other homecare chemical products, owns three properties - two in Johor Bahru and one in Puchong, Selangor. These properties host its production facilities.
The proposed acquisition is subject to several conditions, including due diligence on Wayco Manufacturing, regulatory approval from the Singapore Exchange and shareholders' approval at a general meeting.
The deal also called on Way Company to appoint an independent valuer to ascertain the value of the properties involved in the acquisition. If the valuation is above RM7.5 million, Datapulse will pay Way Company an additional amount equal to the difference. Way Company will refund Datapulse the amount equal to the difference if the valuation falls below RM7.5 million.
Datapulse explained in a separate announcement that its new board is of the view that it is in the interests of the company's stakeholders to consider diversification beyond the media storage industry because prospects of this core business remain challenging.
It added that it has to change its original plan to relocate its existing manufacturing activities from Tai Seng Drive to Toa Payoh following the termination of the option to purchase the Toa Payoh property.
The target completion date for the proposed disposal of its Tai Seng property by Jan 2018 also faces some uncertainty partly because progress on this front has been held up at the request of the buyer. The company has entered into further discussions with the buyer to explore pushing back the completion of the deal for the Tai Seng property.
Datapulse's board underwent a major "renewal" over the weekend, with the appointments of Mr Kee as its new CEO and executive director and three new independent directors, including the company's chairman.
