[SINGAPORE] Shares of Singapore Paincare rose on Thursday (Jun 5), a day after the Securities Investors Association (Singapore), or Sias, said the medical services company could be worth more than double its privatisation offer price.
As at 4.19 pm, the counter was trading at S$0.176, 12.1 per cent or S$0.019 above the previous closing price of S$0.157 on Wednesday, with 15.2 million shares transacted. This was its highest price in the year to date.
It closed on Thursday 8.3 per cent or S$0.013 higher at S$0.17, with 17.3 million shares having changed hands.
On Wednesday, Sias urged minority shareholders of Singapore Paincare to hold off selling their shares amid an acquisition bid from Advance Bridge Healthcare, a management consultancy for healthcare services.
Sias noted that the company could be worth around S$0.36 to S$0.37 a share, more than double the S$0.16 a share privatisation offer price.
It recommended that shareholders wait and refrain from taking action until the report by the independent financial adviser (IFA) is released.
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“If the shares are sold on the open market, shareholders who sold will not have recourse if there is subsequent upward revision in the offer price,” Sias warned.
There have been past instances when shareholders sought slight gains and sold their shares on the open market before the IFA issued its report, it noted.
Moreover, the offer price is at a “slight discount” to the company’s audited net asset value (NAV) per share of S$0.166 as at Jun 30, 2024, it said.
The association highlighted that Singapore Paincare made its July 2020 trading debut during Covid-19 with an initial public offering (IPO) price of S$0.22 per share, when valuations were depressed and when the Straits Times Index (STI) was trading at around 2,500 points.
The IPO price of S$0.22 was a 123 per cent premium to the group’s unaudited NAV per share of about S$0.0986 on Dec 31, 2019, based on the post-placement share capital and after adjusting for net proceeds due to the company from the placement.
“It now wishes to delist at S$0.16 per share when the STI is trading at around 3,900 points… If the same IPO premium were to be applied now, the privatisation price should be around S$0.36 to S$0.37,” Sias said.
“For a delisting to take place, the IFA has to conclude that the offer is both fair and reasonable… it would therefore be advisable to wait for the IFA’s opinion.”
