Rowsley shares soar on plan to buy healthcare assets from billionaire shareholder

Thomson Medical

19/07/2017 04:44

SINGAPORE, July 19 (Reuters) - Shares of Rowsley Ltd 
 ROWS.SI  soared 64 percent on Wednesday, after the Singaporean 
real estate firm said it planned to buy healthcare assets from 
its controlling shareholder, billionaire Peter Lim, in a deal 
worth up to S$1.9 billion ($1.4 billion). 
    Rowsley, whose businesses are mainly in design and 
engineering, real estate development and hospitality, will 
diversify into healthcare through the proposed all-stock deal. 
    "Healthcare is a big and growing market due to aging 
demographics, longer lifespan, major trends to increase birth 
rates, and growing affluence," Ng Ser Miang, Rowsley's chairman, 
said in a statement late on Tuesday. 
    Rowsley has signed a non-binding term sheet to buy 100 
percent of Singapore hospital operator Thomson Medical Pte Ltd 
and a 70.36 percent stake in Malaysia's TMC Life Sciences Berhad 
 TMCN.KL  from Lim. It expects to complete a sales and purchase 
agreement within two months. 
    Billionaire Lim, the owner of Spanish football club 
Valencia, has a 45.34 percent stake in Rowsley. Lim has a 
fortune worth $2.1 billion, according to Forbes magazine. 
    The company will issue new shares at S$0.075 apiece to Lim 
for the deal. Rowsley is planning a bonus issue of free warrants 
for its existing shareholders after completing the deal.  
    "It gives Rowsley a new direction. It could put a new 
spotlight on the company as a health-sector stock, and health 
sector stocks have actually always done well," said trading 
strategist Nicholas Teo at KGI Securities Singapore.  
    Shares of Rowsley, which has a market capitalisation of 
S$540 million ($395 million), were last trading up 56 percent at 
S$0.114. The stock had fallen about 50 percent over the previous 
five months. 
    ($1 = 1.3666 Singapore dollars) 
 
 (Reporting by Aradhana Aravindan; Editing by Richard Pullin) 
 ((aradhana.aravindan@thomsonreuters.com; +65 6403 5659; Reuters 
Messaging: aradhana.aravindan.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)) 
 
Keywords: ROWSLEY STOCKS/