Morgan Stanley Private Equity to acquire 59.8% stake in APAC Realty for S$129.5m from Northstar

APAC REALTY is set to have a new majority shareholder, with a fund managed by Morgan Stanley Private Equity Asia (MSPEA) agreeing to acquire a 59.8 per cent stake in the company from an entity controlled by private equity firm Northstar Group.

The total consideration for the stake is around S$129.5 million – or S$0.61 per share – and the offeror also intends to make an unconditional mandatory general offer for all the outstanding shares in APAC Realty, other than those already owned, controlled or agreed to be acquired by it, according to the bourse filing on Monday (Apr 25).

The offeror is making the offer in compliance with the requirements of the Singapore Code on Take-overs and Mergers.

The offer price is S$0.57 in cash. APAC Realty shareholders had earlier approved a final dividend of S$0.04 per share for the financial year ended Dec 31, 2021, and the filing noted that the offer price would have been S$0.61 per share, had the offer been open for acceptances before the ex-didvidend date for the final dividend.

The S$0.57 offer price represents a discount of 30.1 per cent to the last traded share price of S$0.815 on Friday (Apr 22). It is also a 26.8 per cent discount to the volume weighted average price per share of S$0.779 for the one-month period prior to and including Apr 22.

The offeror’s present intention is to “acquire as many shares as possible under the offer”. In the event that the trading of the shares on SGX is suspended due to a loss of free float, the offeror intends to delist the company.

APAC Realty is a real estate service provider, and the group has more than 20,000 advisors across 653 offices in Asia through its ERA franchisee network.

The investment in APAC Realty marks MSPEA’s first investment in the real estate services sector in Southeast Asia.

“APAC Realty is one of a limited number of real estate brokerages with true Asia Pacific brand recognition and footprint,” said Andrew Hawkyard, co-chief Investment officer of MSPEA.

“MSPEA will help to further build on this solid foundation and support APAC Realty’s growth by leveraging our global network and extensive experience of growing businesses across Asia.”

APAC Realty shares closed at S$0.805 on Monday, down 1.2 per cent before the announcement. The company requested for a trading halt after the close of trading on Monday.