SINGAPORE — The Ong family is moving to take Singapore-listed food manufacturer OTS Holdings private, offering minority shareholders S$0.17 in cash for every share as the controlling family seeks to end the company’s five-year run on the SGX Catalist board.
The proposed acquisition is being carried out by BCS Development Pte. Ltd., a company controlled by members of the Ong family. If approved, the deal will see OTS Holdings delisted from the Singapore Exchange.
The S$0.17 offer represents a significant premium over the company’s recent trading levels, giving shareholders an opportunity to cash out of a stock that the company itself has described as relatively illiquid.
S$0.17 Offer Comes With a Premium
The offer price is 27.8% above OTS Holdings’ one-month volume-weighted average price as of September 7, according to Singapore Business Review.
Other market reports said the S$0.17 cash consideration represented a 29.8% premium over the company’s last traded price of S$0.131 on September 7.
For minority shareholders, the proposed deal provides a clear exit route from a stock that has seen limited trading activity.
OTS said its average daily trading volume remained extremely low across one-month, three-month, six-month and 12-month periods, with each period representing less than approximately 0.03% of its issued shares.
Ong Family Already Controls More Than 81%
The proposed privatisation comes with the controlling family already holding a commanding position in the company.
The offeror and its concert parties collectively hold direct and deemed interests in approximately 174.13 million OTS shares, representing 81.37% of the company’s total issued share capital.
That leaves a relatively small minority stake outside the control of the offeror and related parties.
The acquisition is being pursued through a scheme of arrangement, under which BCS Development would acquire the OTS shares it does not already control, subject to shareholder and court approvals.
Why Take OTS Holdings Private?
OTS Holdings said maintaining a public listing no longer provides enough benefits to justify the costs and administrative burden involved.
The company said it does not expect to require access to public equity markets to fund its growth plans.
As a result, the group said the costs of remaining listed do not commensurate with the benefits of maintaining its public status.
The move reflects a common challenge for smaller listed companies: when trading volumes are consistently low and there is little need to raise capital through the stock market, remaining publicly listed can become increasingly expensive and burdensome.
From IPO to Privatisation in Five Years
OTS Holdings was incorporated in Singapore in 2015 and listed on the Catalist board of the Singapore Exchange in June 2021.
The company primarily manufactures and trades halal and non-halal ready-to-eat and ready-to-cook meat products, with Singapore and Malaysia serving as key markets.
Its products include processed meat items such as sausages and other food products.
OTS was listed at S$0.23 per share in 2021, meaning the proposed S$0.17 privatisation price remains below its IPO price, despite offering a premium to recent market trading levels.
What Happens Next?
The proposed transaction is not yet complete.
Shareholders will still need to review the scheme documents and vote on the proposed acquisition. The transaction will also require the necessary approvals under Singapore’s scheme-of-arrangement process before the privatisation can become effective.
If completed, OTS Holdings will be delisted from the SGX Catalist board, bringing its time as a publicly traded company to an end.
The Bottom Line
The Ong family is offering S$0.17 per share to take OTS Holdings private, giving minority shareholders a cash exit at a premium to recent trading prices.
With the family and its concert parties already controlling more than 81% of the company, the proposed deal could bring OTS Holdings’ public listing to an end just five years after its SGX debut.
The company’s low trading volume and the cost of maintaining a listing were cited as key reasons for the move.
For OTS Holdings, the message is clear: after five years on the Singapore market, the controlling family believes the company’s next chapter may be better written away from the stock exchange.
WWC ONE MEDIA J.M.D
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