THAKRAL Corporation on Monday said that Thakral family entity, Prime Trade Enterprises (PTE), plans to make a voluntary conditional cash partial offer to buy 26.5 million shares in the lifestyle cum investment holding firm at S$0.50 per share.

The offeror is an investment holding company owned by members of the Thakral family, which through various holding entities, currently controls about 29.94 per cent of Thakral. 

Upon a successful acquisition, the offeror will beef up its stake to about 50.2 per cent. PTE also holds all the shareholding interests of the Thakral family in Thakral, following a restructuring exercise done before the launch of the offer.

PTE said it has no intention to fully acquire Thakral or delist it, or even to introduce any major changes to the business. It said that it plans to carry on and expand the company's existing business.

The offer price represents a premium of 18 per cent above the volume-weighted average price per share for the corresponding six-month period up to Feb 28. Thakral shares did not trade on Monday.

Bikramjit Singh Thakral, the sole director of PTE, said the partial offer will give shareholders an exit opportunity to realise part of their investment at a premium to the benchmark share prices, especially given their relative lack of liquidity.

"At the same time, the partial offer, if successful, gives the company greater management flexibility to manage and develop its businesses, optimise the use of resources and facilitate the implementation of strategic initiatives to enhance performance, with the backing and support of the Thakral family as the majority shareholder of the company."

The offer is subject to the offeror having received by the closing date valid acceptances of at least 26.5 million shares, and approval from the shareholders (other than the offeror group) representing at least 50 per cent of the valid votes received.

Consent from the Securities Industry Council has been granted. Thakral's board has also appointed Provenance Capital as the independent financial adviser to advise on the directors who are considered independent for the purposes of the offer.

Thakral's lifestyle division supports foreign beauty, wellness and lifestyle brands in China, Hong Kong, South-east Asia and India. The  investment division invests in real estate and other opportunities, with a main focus on Australia, Japan and Singapore.

Despite its expanding footprint, members of the Thakral family who form part of the management of Thakral felt that this has not moved the trading liquidity and share prices as they had hoped, which led them to make the offer.

W Capital Markets was the financial adviser for the offeror.