Shares in Baring-backed Courts up 7.1% following IPO

Shares in the electronics and furniture retailer were trading at S$0.83 on volume of 14.8 million shares just a week after the company floated.

This is up 7.1% from the IPO price of S$0.77.

Courts Asia had offered 178 million shares, of which 60 million were new, with a view to raising S$137 million ($112 million).

Four cornerstone investors - JF Asset Management, New Silk Road Investment, Target Asset Management and Value Partners Hong Kong - took up 44% of the offering, with CEO Terence O'Connor and CFO Kee Kim Eng covering 8%.

In 2007, Asia Retail Group (ARG), controlled by BPEA, acquired a 54.2% stake in Courts for S$56.2 million and purchased the remainder of the company in 2008, taking it private.

The private equity firm owns 32.8% of ARG, with the subsidiary of a Kuwaiti company holding another 32.8%, while Standard Bank and Deutsche Bank have stakes of 25% and 9.4% respectively.

ARG has previously tried to sell or list Courts three times. The group first tried to sell the business in 2009 for $300 million but could not find any buyers.

Their last attempt at an IPO was in 2010 but they withdrew the offer due to valuation concerns. Last October, the firm hired HSBC and BNP Paribas SA to sell the asset.

It then attempted another trade sale, with Hong Kong conglomerate Swire reportedly interested in acquiring the asset for around $400 million, but no deal emerged.

Courts has 13 stores in Singapore and 55 in Malaysia. Over the next 2-3 years it plans to add an average of six outlets per year in Malaysia and one per year in Singapore. The company also wants to enter Indonesia and expects to open its first store in Jakarta in 2014.

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• Topics
• Southeast Asia
• Exits
• Venture
• Consumer
• GPs
• Singapore
• Baring Private Equity Asia
• IPO
• Consumer