SPH sells entire 701Search stake to Telenor ASA for US$109m

Singapore

SINGAPORE Press Holdings (SPH) said on Friday it is selling its entire one-third stake in 701Search Pte Ltd to Norway's leading telecommunications operator Telenor ASA for about US$109 million.

A conditional agreement to this effect was entered into by SPH's wholly-owned subsidiary SPH Interactive International Pte Ltd (SPHII) with Telenor Communications II AS.

Under the agreement, SPHII will sell to Telenor 60.2 million ordinary shares of 701Search, representing SPHII's entire stake. SPH CEO Alan Chan said: "701Search has performed well over the last 10 years since it started. This transaction presents an attractive opportunity for us to realise our investment.

"Telenor would be in the best position to continue growing the business further, deriving synergies between the online classifieds business and its telecommunications business."

701Search Group operates an online classifieds business specialising in building and growing online marketplaces in Malaysia, Vietnam and Myanmar. SPHII, Telenor and Schibsted Classified Media AS each hold one-third of the shares. Besides SPH, Norway's Schibsted will also sell its stake to Telenor.

SPH's sale of its stake in 701Search is subject to regulatory and other relevant approvals and conditions. The transaction does not include its effective ownership of 18.6 per cent in Thailand and 13.3 per cent in Indonesia in the online classified joint ventures with Schibsted, Telenor and Naspers. SPH said it will continue to invest in the digital business and look out for opportunities in Singapore and the region, subject to economics and business outlook considerations.

Last month, SPH acquired nursing home provider Orange Valley Healthcare for S$164 million from private equity firm KV Asia Capital as the media and property group seeks to build a third business leg in healthcare. The all-cash deal involved all the shares and intellectual property of Orange Valley, whose management team is retained.

Orange Valley runs five nursing homes in Singapore with more than 900 beds. It also provides a range of ancillary services such as meals and catering, physiotherapy and rehabilitation, and medical supplies and equipment through wholly-owned subsidiaries.

These latest deals came on the heels of a 1.2 per cent slip in SPH's net profit for the fiscal second quarter ended Feb 28, 2017, to S$53.5 million, dragged by its media business but cushioned by gains from disposing of investments. SPH shares closed unchanged at S$3.38 on Friday.