(Updating to include Parkway managing director's possible participation in the acquisition, analyst comment)
SINGAPORE (AFX) - Private equity firm Newbridge Capital said it and affiliate firm TPG-Axon Capital have signed a deal to buy a 26 pct stake in Singapore-based hospital operator Parkway Holdings for 312 mln sgd.
The purchase price for the 185 mln shares Newbridge and TPG-Axon are acquiring from Parkway's founding shareholders, the Tan and Ang families, translates to 1.685 sgd per share, excluding the 0.015 sgd per share dividend declared by Parkway in the first quarter to March.
Newbridge, the Asian arm of the US-based Texas Pacific Group, said the acquisition of a stake in Parkway is its first major investment in Singapore.
"Singapore is ideally positioned to tap into the growing regional demand for healthcare services and we are pleased to invest in a key player such as Parkway," Newbridge managing director Tim Dattels said.
"Furthermore, we are also attracted by the Singapore government's initiative to develop this country into a regional medical hub."
Newbridge, which has 1.7 bln usd worth of assets under management in Asia, has investments in companies such as Bally, Burger King, Del Monte, Ducati, Lenovo and Shenzhen Development Bank.
Parkway managing director Lim Cheok Peng has been invited by Newbridge to join in the acquisition but Dattels said the stake that Lim will take has yet to be determined.
"We would like to have him formally join," Dattels said at a media conference call.
It was not clear whether Lim currently owns shares of Parkway.
Asked why Newbridge is not buying the Parkway stake at a premium to the market price, Dattels said: "The stock has been performing well."
Year-to-date, Parkway's share price is up about 13 pct.
Based on the purchase price, analysts said Newbridge is buying Parkway at about 20 times prospective price-to-earnings ratio for 2005.
"It's quite fair given that its (Parkway's) peers are trading at comparable valuations," DBS Vickers analyst Goh Han Peng said.
Newbridge is the second private equity firm to acquire a stake in Parkway in recent years.
Cobalt Ltd, a fund advised by Symphony Capital (formerly Schroders Capital), owns 7.5 pct of Parkway, according to the Singapore hospital operator's 2004 annual report.
(1 usd = 1.65 sgd)
singapore@xfn.com
jb/mas
For more information and to contact AFX: www.afxnews.com and www.afxpress.com
SINGAPORE (AFX) - Private equity firm Newbridge Capital said it and affiliate firm TPG-Axon Capital have signed a deal to buy a 26 pct stake in Singapore-based hospital operator Parkway Holdings for 312 mln sgd.
The purchase price for the 185 mln shares Newbridge and TPG-Axon are acquiring from Parkway's founding shareholders, the Tan and Ang families, translates to 1.685 sgd per share, excluding the 0.015 sgd per share dividend declared by Parkway in the first quarter to March.
Newbridge, the Asian arm of the US-based Texas Pacific Group, said the acquisition of a stake in Parkway is its first major investment in Singapore.
"Singapore is ideally positioned to tap into the growing regional demand for healthcare services and we are pleased to invest in a key player such as Parkway," Newbridge managing director Tim Dattels said.
"Furthermore, we are also attracted by the Singapore government's initiative to develop this country into a regional medical hub."
Newbridge, which has 1.7 bln usd worth of assets under management in Asia, has investments in companies such as Bally, Burger King, Del Monte, Ducati, Lenovo and Shenzhen Development Bank.
Parkway managing director Lim Cheok Peng has been invited by Newbridge to join in the acquisition but Dattels said the stake that Lim will take has yet to be determined.
"We would like to have him formally join," Dattels said at a media conference call.
It was not clear whether Lim currently owns shares of Parkway.
Asked why Newbridge is not buying the Parkway stake at a premium to the market price, Dattels said: "The stock has been performing well."
Year-to-date, Parkway's share price is up about 13 pct.
Based on the purchase price, analysts said Newbridge is buying Parkway at about 20 times prospective price-to-earnings ratio for 2005.
"It's quite fair given that its (Parkway's) peers are trading at comparable valuations," DBS Vickers analyst Goh Han Peng said.
Newbridge is the second private equity firm to acquire a stake in Parkway in recent years.
Cobalt Ltd, a fund advised by Symphony Capital (formerly Schroders Capital), owns 7.5 pct of Parkway, according to the Singapore hospital operator's 2004 annual report.
(1 usd = 1.65 sgd)
singapore@xfn.com
jb/mas
For more information and to contact AFX: www.afxnews.com and www.afxpress.com
© 2005 AFX News
