Date: November 2, 2021
SIAS has been approached by some SPH shareholders on the current Offers. Our views are firstly, that the Board will consider the Offers and decide on what is in the best interest of its stakeholders. The Board needs to evaluate the Offers and advise its shareholders on the merits. The shareholders should await the decision of the Board.
As regards the process of evaluating, shareholders expect that the SPH Board will be transparent to its shareholders. SIAS will meet with the Senior Management of SPH at the appropriate time to discuss the concerns of shareholders and would hold dialogue sessions for shareholders to understand better the Offer chosen by the Board and make an informed decision.
Some concerns that SIAS has received are that the offers are currently below NAV and whether without the media business, SPH should carry on its business on its own. Now with the media business hived off, some shareholders feel that the SPH is like a property holding company. Thus, the shareholders feel that it should be valued accordingly. SPH is a prized entity, they feel, and the Board should do its utmost to ensure that there are in fact no other potential bidders.
These concerns, we are confident, will be fully addressed by SPH in due course.
David Gerald
President & CEO
SIAS
