Hotel Tycoon Ong Beng Seng, Temasek Offer To Buy Singapore Press In Deal Valued At $2.5 Billion

Hotel Tycoon Ong Beng Seng, Temasek Offer To Buy Singapore Press In Deal Valued At $2.5 Billion

Shoppers and pedestrians walk past the Paragon shopping mall on Orchard Road in Singapore. The ... [+] property is the crown jewel in Singapore Press Holdings' non-media assets. Temasek and Hotel Properties—controlled by billionaire Ong Beng Seng and wife Christina Ong—have teamed up to acquire the commercial properties held by Singapore Press Holdings for about S$$3. 4 billion ($2. 5 billion) in an all-cash bid that tops a recent offer from Keppel Corp. Ong and Hotel Properties hold a 40% stake in Cuscaden Peak, a consortium formed with companies affiliated with Temasek to acquire all the shares of Singapore Press for S$2. 10 each, Hotel Properties said Friday in a filing to the Singapore Exchange. Units of Temasek's CLA Real Estate Holdings and Mapletree Investments, another company linked to the Singapore government-owned investment firm, will each hold 30% stakes each in the consortium, it said. Cuscaden's bid comes on the heels of the offer made in August by Keppel, another Temasek-affiliated company with businesses spanning oil-rig building, real estate and telecommunications. Keppel—which is offering to buy Singapore Press in a cash and share transaction valued at S$2. 099 a share—said it is reviewing Cuscaden's offer and will make an announcement