Amara Chairman Leads $392M Privatisation Bid for Singapore Hotel Group

Singapore’s Amara Holdings has received a buyout offer from parties led by the Teo family that controls the company, setting the stage for a deal that would value the SGX-listed hotel owner and operator at S$514.6 million ($391.9 million).

DRC Investments, a holding firm whose owners include Amara chairman and CEO Albert Teo and local builders Hwa Hong and Wing Tai, made a voluntary conditional general offer of 89.5 Singapore cents per Amara share in cash, according to a Monday filing. DRC has secured acceptances from holders of 90.58 percent of Amara shares, with Albert Teo himself having a deemed interest of 76.23 percent in the company. Other relatives also have stakes.

The takeover bid for Amara, which holds a portfolio of hotels, malls, restaurants and residential projects around Asia, represents a 27 percent premium to the closing price of 70.5 Singapore cents on the last full trading day of 23 April, as well as a 48.9 percent premium to the 12-month volume-weighted average price.

“Our offer presents Amara shareholders with an opportunity to realise their investment at an attractive price and premium over the historical traded share prices,” said Eugene Teo, CEO and co-founder of Hwa Hong Corp’s Shorea Capital unit.

Exit Opportunities

Amara disclosed in June 2023 that it was in talks with its controlling shareholders regarding a potential deal, and five months later an entity controlled by Albert Teo announced a cash offer of 60 Singapore cents per share in partnership with investment manager Dymon Asia.

With that offer having failed to meet the 90 percent threshold for acceptances, and trading liquidity down sharply in the interim, a path opened for the higher bid from DRC, a consortium of Hwa Hong’s Shorea, Wing Tai Holdings, Malaysian investor Newfields and Albert Teo-controlled Albertsons Capital.

“The low trading liquidity may not provide shareholders with sufficient opportunities to efficiently exit their investments in the company,” DRC said in Monday’s filing. “The offer thus presents a unique cash exit opportunity for shareholders to liquidate and realise their entire investment at a premium, which is an option that may not otherwise be readily available due to the low trading liquidity of the shares.”

DRC said it plans to make Amara a wholly-owned subsidiary and does not intend to preserve the company’s listing status.

Earnings Slide

Aside from its ageing flagship hotel in downtown Singapore, Amara’s hospitality portfolio includes the 140-room Amara Sanctuary Resort in Sentosa and the 250-key Amara Bangkok along the Thai capital’s Surawong Road.

In China, the firm owns and operates the Amara Signature Shanghai as part of a mixed-use hotel, retail and office development in Putuo district.

Amara reported 2024 sales of S$123 million, down from S$115 million the previous year, resulting in net income of S$1.8 million, down from S$7.2 million.