Tan Chong to acquire remaining stake in Ethoz Group for S$42.7m
Michelle Zhu
TAN Chong International is buying over a remaining 50 per cent stake in Singapore-based car rental company Ethoz Group for a consideration of S$42.7 million.
Tan Chong currently owns 50 per cent of the company. Another 40 per cent equity stake is held by Tokyo and New York-listed financial services group Orix Corporation (OC), with a remaining 10 per cent stake held by its 50 per cent-owned subsidiary Orix Leasing Singapore (OLS).
DBS and UOB are 30 per cent and 20 per cent shareholders of OLS, respectively.
In a bourse filing on Wednesday (Jun 29), auto dealer Tan Chong said it agreed to purchase part of OC and all of OLS’s equity interests in Ethoz for S$12.2 million and S$30.5 million, respectively.
The shares acquired from OC by Tan Chong amount to 4 per cent of the total issued share capital of Ethoz. Ethoz will further repurchase from OC, shares representing about 36 per cent of the capital of the company, for a consideration of S$109.8 million.
Ethoz will become a wholly-owned subsidiary of Tan Chong upon completion of the acquisition, which is expected to take place on Jul 1, 2022.
According to Tan Chong, enhanced control over the operations of Ethoz will provide greater flexibility in determining the company’s strategic direction as well as unfettered day-to-day decision making processes.
This would therefore accelerate the efficiency and competitiveness of Ethoz’s businesses, said the company, which imports Nissan and Subaru.
Shares of dual-listed Tan Chong were unchanged at HK$1.92 on the Singapore Exchange mainboard as at the midday trading break.
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