Datapulse to buy Hotel Aropa in Seoul for 35b won

DATAPULSE Technology has entered into definitive agreements with South Korean company Hotel Prima Co to acquire Hotel Aropa in Seoul for 35 billion won (S$42.7 million).

In a Singapore Exchange filing late Sunday night, Datapulse said it signed on Dec 14 a conditional real property sale and purchase agreement to acquire the entire land and building for Hotel Aropa, as well as a conditional asset transfer agreement for the assets, licences, contracts and employees of the hotel. The acquisition is expected to complete by March 14, 2019.

Datapulse paid Hotel Prima 3.5 billion won or 10 per cent of the purchase consideration as a refundable contract deposit, while the balance will be paid upon completion of the agreement.

The deposit will be refunded if the sale and purchase agreement is terminated due to insolvency, dissolution or breach of the terms by Hotel Prima; or if the conditions for the agreement are not satisfied by completion for other reasons, including but not limited to the approval of Datapulse's shareholders for the acquisition. It will be forfeited if the agreement is terminated by insolvency, dissolution or breach of the terms by Datapulse.

Datapulse will fund the acquisition through a combination of internal resources and bank borrowings, and expects it to be earnings accretive. By way of illustration, it said that the acquisition, if completed at the start of fiscal 2018, would have raised earnings per share for the financial year ended July 31, 2018 to 15.83 Singapore cents from 15.74 cents before.

Datapulse previously conducted due diligence on the hotel acquisition under a non-binding letter of intent dated Oct 1, 2018. It has also incorporated three wholly owned subsidiaries in Singapore and one in South Korea as a holding structure for the acquisition.

The hotel is a 127-room local mid-scale hotel located near the Myeongdong district in central Seoul. It has access to various transportation networks, including two train stations within three minutes' walk from the hotel.

Hotel Aropa sits on commercial freehold land measuring about 742 square metres with total gross floor area of 5,758 sq m. It was constructed in 2013 and subsequently refurbished in 2016.

Datapulse shares last closed flat at S$0.27.