H.k.land Regulatory News (HKLD)

23 Dec 2005 07:39

Hongkong Land Hldgs Ld23 December 2005 To: Business Editor For immediate release CASH OFFER BY HONGKONG LAND FOR MCL LAND TO PROCEED 23rd December 2005 - Hongkong Land Holdings Limited ("Hongkong Land") todayannounced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, HKL (Morpheus) Pte. Ltd. (the "Offeror"), is to proceed with a voluntary conditional cash offer (the "Offer")for Singapore-listed residential property developer MCL Land Limited ("MCL Land") following the fulfilment of a pre-condition. The formal document settingout the terms and conditions of the Offer will be despatched to the Stockholdersof MCL Land on or about 6th January 2006. On 1st December 2005, Hongkong Land announced that the making of the Offer wasconditional on the shareholders of Jardine Cycle & Carriage Limited (which holds65.6 per cent. of the stock units of S$1.00 each ("Stock Units") of MCL Land)approving the distribution of its Stock Units by way of a dividend in speciepro-rata to its shareholders (the "Dividend"). The Dividend has now receivedthe required shareholder approval and, accordingly, the pre-condition to theOffer has been fulfilled. The Offer is priced at S$1.75 (US$1.04) per Stock Unit, and full acceptance ofthe Offer will result in a total payment by Hongkong Land of S$647 million(US$383 million). Jardine Strategic Singapore Pte. Ltd. has undertaken toaccept the Offer in respect of the Stock Units representing some 40.9 per cent.of the issued share capital of MCL Land that it will receive in the Dividend.The Offeror also holds Stock Units representing a further 9.5 per cent. of theissued share capital of MCL Land. Hongkong Land's main business is commercial property investment in Hong Kong,and it has been steadily expanding elsewhere in Asia. Hongkong Land's regionaloffice in Southeast Asia is in Singapore where Hongkong Land is developing asignificant commercial property portfolio. Hongkong Land has also established aresidential property development business in Hong Kong and mainland China, andproposes to diversify its residential property activities into Southeast Asia.Hongkong Land is incorporated in Bermuda with its primary share listing inLondon, and its shares are also listed in Bermuda and Singapore. Hongkong Landis a member of the Jardine Matheson Group. - end - For further information, please contact: Hongkong Land LimitedGeoffrey Brown (852) 2842 8138 (852) 9612 3496 GolinHarrisC T Hew (852) 2522 7928 This and other Group announcements can be accessed through the Internet at 'www.hkland.com'. The respective Directors of Hongkong Land and the Offeror (including any who mayhave delegated detailed supervision of this Announcement) have taken allreasonable care to ensure that the facts stated and opinions expressed in thisAnnouncement are fair and accurate and that no material facts have been omittedfrom this Announcement, and they jointly and severally accept responsibilityaccordingly. Where any information has been extracted from published or publicly availablesources (including, without limitation, in relation to MCL Land and itssubsidiaries and associated companies), the sole responsibility of therespective Directors of Hongkong Land and the Offeror has been to ensure throughreasonable enquiries that such information is accurately extracted from suchsources or, as the case may be, reflected or reproduced in this Announcement. This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock Exchange