Singapore Press Holdings (SPH), after having announced that it would be terminating the offer from rival bidder Keppel Corp, said Tuesday that its shareholders had approved Cuscaden Peak’s acquisition.
Both Keppel Corp and Cuscaden Peak are tied to Temasek state investors. The deal sparked an unusual bidding war between both groups. The former offered S$2.40 per share, which is S$2.9 billion ($2.87billion), while the latter offered S$2.351 per share or S$3.74billion for SPH’s realty business.
Keppel Corp, which includes Temasek Holdings, is a major shareholder. It previously stated that it didn’t agree with SPH’s decision to end its offer. The Singapore International Arbitration Centre has received a notice from the conglomerate.
Cuscaden Peak is a consortium made up of Ong Beng Seng, a property tycoon, and Temasek’s two portfolio companies. It will have access to SPH’s real estate portfolio which includes malls and residential properties for students, as well as nursing homes. However, it won’t be able to access its loss-making media company, which was removed from the company last fiscal year.
Cuscaden’s takeover is expected to be approved by a Singapore court around April 5. Shareholders can expect to begin receiving payments starting May 11, according to SPH.
SPH was also granted permission by Singapore Exchange to not announce its financial results for the first half-year. This is subject to shareholder approval.