Oxley duo buying into Int'l Healthway Corp

Singapore

TWO men behind boutique developer Oxley Holdings are buying into International Healthway Corporation (IHC), prompting some market observers to wonder whether the duo are eyeing the property assets of the

Catalist-listed medical property developer.

A Sept 29 disclosure showed Ching Chiat Kwong, executive chairman and CEO of Oxley, now has a substantial stake of 12.1 per cent.

Oxley's deputy CEO Eric Low See Ching's stake stands at 6.13 per cent based on a Sept 25 disclosure.

Meanwhile, Fan Kow Hin, Andrew Aathar and Jong Hee Sen, part of a group of investors that formed the Healthway Medical Corporation (HMC) outpatient clinic network in 2006, have been selling down their IHC stakes.

IHC, which is in the process of acquiring Catalist-listed HMC through a share deal, was in the news on Sept 9 when the Singapore Exchange (SGX) advised caution when dealing in IHC shares.

The company, which was listed in July 2013 at 48 Singapore cents a share, invested in healthcare-related assets and developed hospitals and mixed-use sites that included service apartments and medical facilities.

Following its July 2013 listing, IHC share prices had halved over the next year. From July 2014 till September 2015, IHC recovered steadily to around 30 Singapore cents on consistently high volumes of many tens of millions of shares a day.

In June this year, IHC proposed to acquire HMC by issuing new IHC shares at 45 Singapore cents each, while paying 10 Singapore cents for each HMC share.

In its Sept 9 call for trading caution, SGX noted that a handful of individuals, who seemed to be connected to each other, were trading IHC shares through various trading accounts among themselves.

In total, their trades constituted more than 60 per cent of the total traded volume of IHC shares in April 2015 to Sept 9, SGX said. It added that it was working with relevant regulatory agencies on the matter.

IHC then suspended trading in its shares before announcing revised terms for its HMC acquisition, reducing its IHC new share issue price to 43 Singapore cents.

After the trading suspension was lifted on Sept 21, the stock traded at about a third of its former value, on large volumes. Mr Fan, Mr Aathar and Dr Jong were also selling.

From Sept 21 to Sept 23, Mr Aathar pared his IHC stake from 27 per cent to 16.9 per cent. Dr Jong's stake went from 5.29 per cent to 2.02 per cent. Mr Fan pared his stake from 26.4 per cent to 25.5 per cent.

It was also disclosed on Sept 28 that Dr Jong's stake in HMC on Sept 22 had dropped below 5 per cent.

Observers noting the Oxley duo's substantial stakes have speculated that that they could be eyeing IHC's property assets.

Today, IHC owns 12 freehold nursing facilities in Japan which it rents out for income. It also owns two office buildings in Melbourne, Australia, that it originally planned to sell but recently had said that it planned to inject them, together with an Australian medical centre, into a private Reit instead. It is also developing properties in Malaysia and China.

IHC closed on Wednesday at 8.3 Singapore cents, down 0.5 cent, while HMC gained 0.1 cent to close at 3.5 Singapore cents.