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Chan takes second run at Guoco Group
The largest single shareholder in British gambling operator Rank Group could be about to go private after a group led by Malaysian billionaire Quek Leng Chan made a second cash offer for complete control of Guoco Group Limited.
According to a report from the Bloomberg news service, the Chan faction has offered HK$9.37 billion ($1.2 billion) for all of the outstanding shares in Hong Kong-listed Guoco Group, which is an improvement on the HK$8.25 ($1.1 billion) it initially proposed in December.
Financial, entertainment and real estate firm Guoco Group controls 74.5 percent of Rank Group and the revised deal would see Chan’s group pay HK$88 ($11.35) for each one of its shares while additionally handing over HK$12 ($1.54) per share after the buyout provision of the deal is satisfied or waived.
The proposed agreement for Hong Kong-based Guoco Group would give Chan, who also serves as the firm’s Chairman, more control over the company’s 15 percent stake in Bank of East Asia, which is Hong Kong’s biggest family-run bank worth about HK$9.5 billion ($1.22 billion). The offer has been made in partnership with several parties including a unit of Hong Leong Company, in which Chan has a 49 percent stake, and values each share at 2.6 percent more than their closing price on April 22. |
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