IPC announces hotel disposal, purchase of stake in robot development company

IPC Corporation on Monday said that it has signed a non-binding heads of agreement to sell its Grand nest HOTEL zhuhai to Xinyuan (China) Real Estate, a unit of New York-listed Xinyuan Real Estate, for an indicative price of about 200 million yuan (S$41 million).

The proposed disposal is subject to regulatory approvals, board approval and/or shareholders' approval, as well as due diligence being conducted on the property.

The parties will continue to negotiate in a commercially reasonable manner with a view to finalising and executing definitive agreements within 30 days.

Separately, IPC also said that it has signed a non-binding heads of agreement with the same subsidiary of Xinyuan Real Estate to acquire a 51 per cent equity interest in Beijing iJourney Technology Development Co for an indicative purchase price of about US$5.1 million, which is likely to be satisfied through the issue of new shares at S$0.40 each.

Capitalising on artificial intelligence technology, the target company does research, development and marketing of robots which serve the needs of families. Its products target the smart home market and it expects to become an Internet traffic portal to the next generation of the Internet of Things.

IPC said: "Through the acquisition of the target company, the group will be making its first foray into the artificial intelligence business. The company will embark on its 'One Belt One Net' initiative in the area of data centres, digital technologies and services. Such 'One Belt One Net' initiatives will complement China's 'One Belt One Road' project," it said.

IPC resumes trading on Tuesday.