Frasers Property's indirect associated company to acquire Golden Land for 19.75b baht

FRASERS Property Limited's indirect associated company is making a conditional voluntary tender offer (VTO) for all the issued securities of Golden Land Property Development plc for about 19.75 billion baht (S$851.9 million) in cash, subject to regulatory and shareholder approval.

Frasers Property (Thailand) Public Company Limited (FPT) is making an offer of 8.50 baht per share for around 2.32 billion shares to acquire the residential and commercial property development company, Frasers Property said in a regulatory filing on Monday before the market opened. 

FPT said that the offer price may be reduced by the amount of dividend paid per share if Golden Land announces its dividend payment before the VTO for the securities takes place, hence it expects to determine the tender offer period in 45 business days.

Frasers Property Holdings (Thailand) Co (FPHT) holds a 39.92 per cent stake in Golden Land, and is a major shareholder of FPT. Meanwhile, Univentures Public Company Limited (UV) holds 39.28 per cent of shares in Golden Land. FPT's director Panote Sirivadhanabhakdi, is an indirect major shareholder of UV, holding 50 per cent of shares of Adelfos Co Ltd - a shareholder of UV with a 66.01 per cent stake.

Through the propose transaction, FPT plans to expand into adjacent businesses, in line with its strategy to build an integrated real estate platform with multi-segment property execution capabilities. It also looks to immediately scale with the acquisition and ensure a balanced and diversified portfolio across asset classes and customer segments, along with enhancing its earnings and return on equity.

Based on the success of the VTO, the combined platform is expected to generate revenue in excess of 20 billion baht with total assets above 80 billion baht post-transaction, the company added.

Combined capabilities and resources will enable both firms to better capitalise on the landbank in FPT, especially with the township development opportunities from its recent 4,300 rai land acquisition along Bangna Road, and other sizeable projects in the pipeline in Thailand's Eastern Economic Corridor.

Golden Land would also be able to "immediately contribute" to FPT's financial performance, through its portfolio of operating assets.

According to Sopon Racharaksa, president of FPT, the businesses of FPT and Golden Land complement each other, giving the company multi-segment capabilities across the logistics, industrial and commercial space value chain.

"I see greater benefits to offer more breadth and depth in our service offerings as we continue to build experiences that matter to our customers, partners, staff and shareholders. The enlarged scale will also enable us to attract the best talent and offer exciting growth career opportunities for our staff across multiple asset classes," Mr Racharaksa added.

Since 2013, Golden Land has seen revenue growth of 58 per cent with new flagship development projects such as SamYan Mitr Town, FYI Centre and Sathorn Square. It also has shareholding interests in hospitality assets including Mayfair Marriott Executive Apartment, The Ascott Sathorn and Modena by Fraser Bangkok.

It has 41 active residential projects in Bangkok and its vicinity, and plans to launch 25 new projects valued at 26 billion baht in 2019.