Swire enters the bidding for Baring-backed Courts Asia

It emerged in October 2011 that Asia Retail Group, the Courts holding company which is owned by Baring and Middle Eastern investor Topaz Investment, was seeking to exit the asset, with HSBC and BNP Paribas appointed to arrange the sale. According to Reuters, a Swire subsidiary entered the bidding as recently as two weeks ago with a strong offer.

This is the third attempt to sell Courts. Asia Retail Group tried to list the company in 2010, but valuation concerns put paid to these plans, while there were no takers when the asset was put on the block in 2009 for a price of $300 million.

Asia Retail Group acquired a 54.2% stake in Courts in 2007 for S$56.2 million and purchased the remainder of the company in 2008. Before its privatization, Courts was listed on both the Singapore and Malaysian stock exchanges.

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• Topics
• Consumer
• Exits
• Southeast Asia
• Southeast Asia
• Singapore
• Malaysia
• Exit
• Trade sale
• Baring Private Equity Asia
• Consumer