24th
(BN) Singapore Exchange Said to Plan $8.2 Billion Offer for ASX
Bloomberg News, sent from my Android phone
Oct. 24 (Bloomberg) — Singapore Exchange Ltd. plans to offer about A$8.4 billion ($8.2 billion) in cash and stock to buy ASX Ltd., which runs the Australian stock exchange, two people familiar with the matter said.
The operator of Singapore’s exchange will bid A$48 per ASX share and pay 55 percent of the deal in stock and the remainder in cash, the people said, asking not to be identified before an announcement scheduled for Monday. Shareholders of ASX will receive A$22 cash for each share they hold, they said.
The combination would be the first between two exchange operators in the Asia-Pacific region and will create the area’s first pan-regional stock exchange. The takeover would bolster the global competitiveness of the Singaporean and Australian bourses by lowering costs, allowing new products and increasing the scale of their operations, one of the people said.
After the transaction, the new holding company’s shares will be primarily listed in Singapore with its depository receipts listed in Australia, the people said. Investors will receive 3 1/2 Singapore Exchange shares for each ASX share, one of the people said.
The offer price represents about a 37 percent premium to the last closing price of ASX in Sydney. Trading in shares of both companies was halted on Friday.
Matthew Gibbs, an ASX spokesman, and Magdalyn Liew, a spokeswoman for Singapore Exchange, each declined to comment.
To contact the reporter on this story: Cathy Chan in Hong Kong at kchan14@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Philip Lagerkranser at lagerkranser@bloomberg.net
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