Chip Eng Seng

[BlueKelah]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts Weijian! I understand you now.

If Ms Tang were to mount a takeover now (or later), does it means she has to offer the rest of the SH at $1.08, or above?

I was thinking why the Lim family is giving up ownership of CES, after spending their entire life building up the company to what it is today. My personal view is this; the founding members feel that their time (and relevance) is probably over. Those who attended the AGM would realised that Mr Lim can’t even speak proper English. He delivered his opening messages in Mandarin instead. Please don’t get me wrong, I am not judging a person ability by his language capability. But imaging if you can’t even speak reasonable English, it is quite obvious you will face a lot of difficulties in running CES in its current forms and shape. Especially so when CES is investing more money in Australia (Btw, SingHaiyi has a small stake in Australia listed Cromwell Property Group, is this one of the reasons Ms Tang is interested in CES?)

Also, the fact that the CEO is a son-in-law of Mr Lim, probably, and purely my own opinion only, that Mr Lim offspring is not interested in taking over the running of the company.

So with no succession plan to pass the business to their direct family members, plus there are advance in age and also incapable of running the company effectively, they probably think a better option is to sell out and enjoy life.

So my own personal conclusion is this; there is nothing wrong in the fundamental of the company. And so the change of ownership should not be a big concern. The CEO is still holding on to his shares and running the company. Plus, now there are two tycoons as the shareholders of the company, and interesting things could happen.

I do not think for a moment think boss Lim has any problem with his language. After all, many much bigger shot property company ah tiong bosses  are from China and have no problem running billion dollar companies. 

We are currently in a substantial credit tightening cycle/deleveraging cycle, it has begun since steady rate rises kicked in late 2017 and this year. Both SG/AUS sides of CES business will be impacted quite significantly in the coming years, high chance there might even be some property related financial crisis coming.

I would say Lim is shrewd and knows when is the best time to "cash out". I do not think there will be any offers made for this company anytime soon given the bad business environment. Probably we might see an offer if share price corrects back down to 60c or even 50c levels

[Ben]

I do not think for a moment think boss Lim has any problem with his language. After all, many much bigger shot property company ah tiong bosses  are from China and have no problem running billion dollar companies. 

It definitely has impact, especially so when CES is moving into different geographical region (Australia, Maldives, New Zealand) and different sector (Hospitality, Education etc). The ways of doing business in the 60s and now is very much different. It is not just language, but also technology and other factors. Lim may find it too difficult, or unwilling to learn a new language or technology at his age. Of course, just my speculation without any disrespect to Lim.

We are currently in a substantial credit tightening cycle/deleveraging cycle, it has begun since steady rate rises kicked in late 2017 and this year. Both SG/AUS sides of CES business will be impacted quite significantly in the coming years, high chance there might even be some property related financial crisis coming.

I am very sure Ms Tang, and also her billionaire husband Mr Tang, is aware of such risk. Ms and Mr Tang might be rich, but I don’t believe they would throw in $201 million without doing details homework.

I would say Lim is shrewd and knows when is the best time to "cash out".

I have no doubt Lim is smart and shrewd. But I will disagree that he cash-out just because of the bad business environment that CES is going to face. Lim has painstakingly build up the company over the years. He has faced my challenges and bad economics during those times, and none has made him quit. Having help built CES to its current size, I am sure Lim has strong sentiment towards the company. Therefore, I would like to think that he sold out because he feels that someone else is now more suitable to take CES to greater height, instead of abandoning the company at the right time for maximum profits.

[Ray168]

The share price dropped back to pre-speculation level, and assuming this was the price that Miss Tang (psychologically) anchored on to buy over at a premium, then she would simply have first enjoyed a paper reduction in premium offered, followed by an increase back to previous premium level. Nothing more or less.

Hi Weijian, I couldn't quite understand what do you mean here, do you mind explain it a little bit more for my benefits? Thank you!

hi Ben,
Some of us were thinking maybe Miss Tang might feel bad with "a paper loss" when price dropped back to pre speculation level of ~80-85cents. So what i did was to try to trace back her mental journey.

Normally to buy a large block of shares, there will be some premium to the market and assume the pre-speculation price of 80-85cents market price was the base price for negotiation. She was already mentally prepared to pay a ~20% premium at 1.08sgd with 80-85cents as the "anchor". When speculation kicked in, the market price increased and hence the premium she "had to pay" reduced as the anchor moved to ~95cts. When everything was unveiled, probably speculators were disappointed there was no meat and sold out resulting in the prices reducing back to original level of 80-85cents. Pre speculation and post speculation level, she is still paying a 20% premium, nothing more or less.

So end of the day, if she had changed her "anchor" during this time with how the market responds, she would have suffered a mental paper gain (via reduced in premium paid) followed by a mental paper loss. If she didn't move her anchor, then psychologically she is "balanced" and probably wouldn't "feel bad to see an immediate paper loss" as Sumeria is pondering.

May be Miss Tang bought the share base on NAV of $1.24, and she bought with ~13% discount. 

From Lim family view, they sold at premium (base on price). 

From Miss Tang view, she bought at discount (base on value). 

[weijian]

Thanks for sharing your thoughts Weijian! I understand you now.

If Ms Tang were to mount a takeover now (or later), does it means she has to offer the rest of the SH at $1.08, or above?

I was thinking why the Lim family is giving up ownership of CES, after spending their entire life building up the company to what it is today. My personal view is this; the founding members feel that their time (and relevance) is probably over. Those who attended the AGM would realised that Mr Lim can’t even speak proper English. He delivered his opening messages in Mandarin instead. Please don’t get me wrong, I am not judging a person ability by his language capability. But imaging if you can’t even speak reasonable English, it is quite obvious you will face a lot of difficulties in running CES in its current forms and shape. Especially so when CES is investing more money in Australia (Btw, SingHaiyi has a small stake in Australia listed Cromwell Property Group, is this one of the reasons Ms Tang is interested in CES?)

Also, the fact that the CEO is a son-in-law of Mr Lim, probably, and purely my own opinion only, that Mr Lim offspring is not interested in taking over the running of the company.

So with no succession plan to pass the business to their direct family members, plus there are advance in age and also incapable of running the company effectively, they probably think a better option is to sell out and enjoy life.

So my own personal conclusion is this; there is nothing wrong in the fundamental of the company. And so the change of ownership should not be a big concern. The CEO is still holding on to his shares and running the company. Plus, now there are two tycoons as the shareholders of the company, and interesting things could happen.

Hi Ben,
If Miss Tang triggers the 30% threshold (eg. the CEO sells out), then she has to give a mandatory offer and the price has to be at least equal to the highest price she paid in the last 6 months.
If she decides to do a voluntary offer (ie. she does not trigger the 30% limit but voluntarily tenders an offer to all OPMIs), then she must also offer the highest price she paid in the last 3 months.
 
mandatory offer 14.3 (pg 93)
voluntary offer 15.2 (pg 107)

Spore takeover code: http://www.mas.gov.sg/~/media/resource/s...ex%202.pdf

With the epic F&N example some years back (1 of the "rare" happy endings in my memory), i do agree that having 2 tycoons as shareholders of the company is a potential for interesting things to happen. Of course, it could easily turn out the other way - eg. the potential show-down between Oxley and OUE for International Healthway Corporation (now called OUE Lippo Healthcare) that deflated really quick..

[weijian]

Miss Tang is now chairwoman of CES. With 2 ex-insiders exiting after selling out, she puts in her capable subordinate at OKH as an independent director - Simply great since it seems it follows SGX rules since both OKH and the entity that bought out the founders are different legal entities. Prof Mak will be jumping up and down again.

new ID: http://infopub.sgx.com/Apps?A=COW_CorpAn...e42243a184

Miss Tang is now chairwoman: http://infopub.sgx.com/Apps?A=COW_CorpAn...45a03efe8e

[Ray168]

Miss Tang is now chairwoman of CES. With 2 ex-insiders exiting after selling out, she puts in her capable subordinate at OKH as an independent director - Simply great since it seems it follows SGX rules since both OKH and the entity that bought out the founders are different legal entities. Prof Mak will be jumping up and down again.

new ID: http://infopub.sgx.com/Apps?A=COW_CorpAn...e42243a184

Miss Tang is now chairwoman: http://infopub.sgx.com/Apps?A=COW_CorpAn...45a03efe8e

Celine Tang is holding 61 directorship ........ a super women?

[Sumeria]

CES' share price and buying patterns today remind me of the company's previous share buybacks. Perhaps a short squeeze too?

[jeffreychua]

Is CES still good under the new leaders?

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[money]

Is CES still good under the new leaders?

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Actually this is hard to comment, you really only can tell after some time by watching what the company say and does

[Ray168]

Is CES still good under the new leaders?

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Actually this is hard to comment, you really only can tell after some time by watching what the company say and does

Mr Market has no confident with new leaders. 

lol