GK Goh Holdings evaluates shareholding in Boardroom

Singapore

MAINBOARD-listed investment company GK Goh Holdings (GKGH) is mulling over various options in relation to its shareholding in corporate-services provider Boardroom, it said in a regulatory update on Wednesday.

The firm added that the objective is to maximise shareholder value, and options include a potential divestment of its shareholding in Boardroom, which it owns a 92 per cent stake in.

The announcement was in response to a Bloomberg report, which said that the firm is exploring the sale of Boardroom following interest from prospective buyers, said sources.

Bloomberg said that GKGH is working with a financial adviser on the potential sale, which its sources said could fetch about US$300 million.

GKGH had disclosed in its bourse filing that it has appointed Credit Suisse (Singapore) as its financial adviser in connection with this process.

It added that the evaluation and discussions are in their preliminary stages and that no definitive transaction in relation to Boardroom, including a potential divestment, has been entered into by the company with any party.

It added that there is no certainty that any such transaction will materialise.

The firm will make an appropriate announcement if there are material developments.

"In the meantime, shareholders of the company are advised to refrain from taking any action in respect of their shares or other securities of GKGH, which may be prejudicial to their interests, and to exercise caution when dealing in such shares or other securities," said GKGH.

The announcement also comes over a year after GKGH had offered S$0.88 in cash for each Boardroom share, in a deal that values the company at S$184.5 million, to take the company private.

Boardroom had, in the year 2000, listed on the Singapore Exchange in a S$13.7 million initial public offering.

GKGH called for a trading halt around noon and requested for it to be lifted after trading hours and following the announcement.

Shares of GKGH ended Wednesday at S$0.81, up S$0.04 or 5.2 per cent.