Raffles United to be delisted on Dec 24

BEARINGS and seals supplier Raffles United on Friday said it will be delisted from the Singapore Exchange (SGX) from 9am on Dec 24 following previous uncertainty as to whether it could be delisted.

The uncertainty stemmed from the independent financial adviser's (IFA) opinion in July that the offeror's S$0.065 per share cash offer was "not fair and not reasonable" due to unfair financial terms.

This second offer for Raffles United was launched on Oct 25, after new SGX listing rules took effect on July 11, 2019.

A previous offer with the same share price of S$0.065 was made on July 1, and that offer would have fallen foul of the old rule that an issuer cannot delist unless the IFA opines shareholders were given a "reasonable" exit offer.( see amendment note 1)

SGX gave the green light to delist on Nov 27 after the offeror received enough valid acceptances to meet the Compulsory Acquisition threshold under the Company's Act.(see amendment note 2)

The offeror, GATXH Holdings, is a vehicle for executive director Teo Xian-Hui Amanda Marie, who is the daughter of Raffles United managing director Teo Teng Beng.

GATXH Holdings on Dec 16 exercised its right of compulsory acquisition for all offer shares at S$0.065 apiece, including those held by shareholders that have not accepted the offer.

The counter has been suspended since Aug 14, when it closed at S$0.066.

Amendment note 1: A previous version of this article did not include details of a second offer made by the offeror on Oct 25 to acquire Raffles United. This offer falls under the new SGX listing rules, and is the offer that Raffles United will delist under, not the first offer made on July 1. The article has been updated to reflect this.

Amendment note 2: A previous version of this article stated SGX gave the green light for Raffles United to delist, but its decision is not an indication of the merits of the proposed delisting. The article has been updated to reflect that SGX gave the green light to delist after the offeror had received enough valid acceptances.