The Place Holdings to buy stakes in Beijing LED sky screen operations for S$47m

PROPERTY management and media company The Place Holdings : E27 0% has proposed buying a 51 per cent stake each in 2 companies that are involved in the operations of an LED sky screen in Beijing, China, for an aggregate consideration of around S$47 million.

The company has entered into sale and purchase agreements for a 51 per cent stake in Sun Xin Investment for S$26.5 million, and a 51 per cent stake in Sun Oriental for S$20.5 million, it said on Wednesday (May 11).

The assets of Sun Xin comprise mainly of intellectual property (IP) rights of trademarks and patent of the Shimao Tianjie Sky Screen, as well as of the logo of mixed-use development The Place in Beijing, which is located next to the sky screen.

Meanwhile, Sun Oriental is planning to acquire hardware and software of the Shimao Tianjie Sky Screen and business contracts related to the use of the sky screen.

Shimao Tianjie Sky Screen spans 250m long and 30m wide, and comprises 7,500 square metres of LED lights, as well as sound systems. The company noted that the sky screen is a popular venue and platform for events, advertisements and media.

The Place Holdings expects the acquisitions can expand its integrated media-related business, and allow it to customise the sky screen business model for expansion into Singapore and other countries in the near future.

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The company also noted that there is strong potential to develop new commercial opportunities to connect the sky screen’s operations with the metaverse, and various opportunities to develop new business propositions related to the digital economy including gamification and non-fungible tokens.

Ji Zenghe, executive chairman of The Place Holdings, said: “The acquisitions give us scale and expertise to amplify our capabilities to push the boundaries of digital media, accelerating Singapore’s small and medium enterprises’ digitisation roadmap and harnessing new business opportunities within the digital economy.”

After completing the proposed acquisitions, the company expects to receive recurring royalties income from the licensing of the IP rights for the sky screen and The Place.

On a pro forma basis, the company expects its post-acquisition earnings per share for FY2021 will be 0.21 Singapore cent, from a loss per share of 0.005 cent, assuming the transaction was completed on Jan 1, 2021.

Additionally, the company noted that it has entered into a memorandum of understanding with SMRT unit Stellar Lifestyle with aims to build Singapore’s first sky screen.

Shares of mainboard-listed The Place Holdings were up S$0.005 or 6.4 per cent at S$0.083 as at 9.21 am on Wednesday.