ESR halts trading on potential take-private plan, sources say (updated)
13/05/2024 08:38
(Adds deal details in paragraph 1, ESR background in paragraph
9; updates media identifier, previously ESR-TAKE PRIVATE/)
By Kane Wu and Julie Zhu
HONG KONG, May 13 (Reuters) - Hong Kong-listed real
estate fund manager ESR Group 1821.HK , which halted trading in
its shares on Monday, is subject to a potential take-private bid
from a group of investors including Starwood Capital Group,
three people with knowledge of the matter said.
ESR, which is backed by U.S. private equity firm Warburg
Pincus LLC, said in a stock exchange filing trading was halted
pending an announcement about inside information on the company,
pursuant to the Hong Kong code on takeovers and mergers.
Bloomberg first reported that a Starwood-led group is
planning to buy out ESR on Monday.
Discussions of the take-private were however at an early
stage with terms to be finalised, said the sources and two other
people with knowledge of the situation.
The company's shares closed at HK$10 on Friday, the highest
since March 4, translating to a market cap of $5.4 billion, LSEG
data showed. The shares have fallen 7.4% this year, compared
with an 12% increase in the benchmark Hang Seng Index .HSI .
ESR declined to comment any further than its filing.
Starwood Capital, a private investment firm focusing on global
real estate sector, did not immediately respond to a Reuters
request for comment.
The sources declined to be identified as the information was
confidential.
Bloomberg reported in February that a group of ESR's
shareholders was exploring options that included a privatisation
of the Hong Kong-listed company, citing sources familiar with
the discussions.
ESR manages a range of property-focused funds and its own
property investments. It went public in Hong Kong in 2019 after
pricing its initial public offering at HK$16.8 per share.
Headquartered in Miami, Florida in the U.S., Starwood
Capital has raised over $75 billion of capital since its
inception in 1991 and currently has about $115 billion of assets
under management, its website says.
The firm has 16 offices worldwide, including Hong Kong,
Tokyo and Sydney in Asia Pacific, the website shows.
($1 = 7.8141 Hong Kong dollars)
(Reporting by Kane Wu and Julie Zhu; Editing by Tom Hogue and
Jan Harvey)
((kane.wu@thomsonreuters.com; +85228436590; Reuters Messaging:
kane.wu.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net))