Synagie Corp’s founders have teamed up with leading China venture capitalist firm Gobi Partners to buy over the core e-commerce operations for $61.7 million.
The three Synagie founders are CEO Clement Lee Shieh-Peen, executive directors Zanetta Lee Yue and Tai Ho Yan. They will be aided by Meranti ASEAN Growth Fund, a fund managed by Gobi Partners, which has more than US$1.1 billion in assets under management.
As at Dec 31 2019, the businesses to be sold have a combined net asset value of negative $14.1 million and net tangible asset value of negative $14.7 million. Net loss incurred by these entities was around $8.5 million.
As such, the offer price of $61.7 million is a premium of nearly $76.4 million over their NTA, according to Synagie.
This amount is equivalent to around 20.1 cents per Syangie share, just over double the most recent traded price levels before the announcement.
According to Synagie, Cushman & Wakefield VHS has been commissioned to conduct an independent valuation on the E-Commerce Business, including the Sale Shares.
"Further details on the valuation will be made available in the circular to be despatched to shareholders in due course," the company said.
The bulk of the purchase amount, or $51.8 million, will be paid using cash, and the remaining $9.36 million to be paid via an interesting-bearing promissory note.
From the proceeds, Synagie plans to distribute 18 cents cash per share to its shareholders.
Upon completion of the sale, Synagie will be left with its so-called “insurtech” business, which in March 2019, launched the mobile app Kiasu.me, selling bite-sized policies for customers who want coverage from cyberattacks to gadget protection.
Synagie aims to channel resources and capital to grow this insurtech business and will also explore other viable opportunities.
In a separate announcement on the same day, Synagie said that it expects to make a profit for the six months ended June 30 2020, due to spike in demand for products such as masks and sanitisers, because of the Covid-19 outbreak.
In addition, the volume of ecommerce activity has increased during this period.
As at three pm today, Synagie shares have gained 4.23% to 19.7 cents.
