Quarz Capital Asia, a substantial shareholder of Sunningdale Tech, has trimmed its stake in the company.
Quarz on Feb 9 sold 69,000 shares at $1.63 apiece in the open market, which is two cents lower than the revised offer of $1.65 put on the table by Sunningdale’s chairman Koh Boon Hwee.
With the sale on Feb 9, Quarz has trimmed its stake from 15,454,700 shares to 15,385,700, or 7.987%, according to a Feb 16 filing.
The offer was revised to $1.65 on Jan 19. On the same day, Quarz bought a total of 750,000 shares from the open market at $1.62 apiece, raising its stake to 15,957,700 shares, 8.284%, according to a filing. There were no other filings announcing changes of shareholdings in between.
SEE: Sunningdale Tech needs to pivot fast; additional capex required: Koh Boon Hwee
Koh, who is making the privatization bid in partner with investment firm Novo Tellus, had earlier offered just $1.55 per share. Quarz called this offer – first made on Nov 9 – “lowball”. Quarz had also pointed out how Loke Wai San, who heads Novo Tellus, was previously one of Sunningdale’s independent director. He was redesignated as non-independent only after the offer was made.
Quarz’s sale of Sunningdale shares came ahead of the Feb 17 3pm deadline for shareholders to send in their votes on whether they want to accept or decline the offer from Koh and Novo Tellus. The voting result will be made known at the EGM on Feb 19.
“We respect shareholders’ right to buy or sell shares in Sunningdale as they see fit,” says Koh.
Sunningdale shares closed unchanged at $1.64 on Feb 16.