Lum Chang sells LCD Global stake

Vendors of combined 29.5% stake include David Lum and Raymond Lum

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Lum Chang sells LCD Global stake

Vendors of combined 29.5% stake include David Lum and Raymond Lum

Kelly Tay
20 September 2014

Lum Chang Investments and other shareholders have sold a combined 29.5 per cent stake in LCD Global Investments to privately held JTrust Asia.

LCD - which owns, develops and manages hotels and resorts globally - will eventually be known as JTrust International Ltd.

The sale involves 310,475,205 ordinary shares, at 30 Singapore shares each, for a total of S$93.1 million.

Apart from Lum Chang Investments, the other stake sellers are David Lum Kok Seng, Raymond Lum Kwan Sung, Kelvin Lum Wen-Sum and Beverian Holdings. Lum Chang’s Raymond and David, who are brothers, will continue to hold about 2.25 per cent of the total number of issued shares of LCD in aggregate; the other three parties will cease to be LCD shareholders altogether.

Upon expected completion of the transaction by the end of this month, David Lum will resign as a director of LCD with immediate effect and will also retire as an executive of the company.

Within a period of six months after completion, Kelvin Lum will also resign as a director of LCD.

JTrust Asia is a wholly owned subsidiary of JTrust Co Ltd, a finance and real estate group headquartered in Japan.

According to its website, JTrust Asia was established in October 2013 and provides “investment business and management support services” out of Collyer Quay. It has S$125 million in capital. Its managing director and chief executive officer Nobuyoshi Fujisawa, and Shigeyoshi Asano will be appointed as LCD’s executive directors when the transaction is complete.

Earlier in April, LCD shareholders received a buyout offer of 17 Singapore cents a share by the Lum brothers, who collectively controlled about 32 per cent of LCD shares through their own holdings and concert parties.

But three months later, speculation was rife that Aspial Corporation chief executive Koh Wee Seng would make a competing offer - or was attempting to push the offerors to raise their bid price - by buying up shares in LCD at prices significantly higher than the 17 Singapore cents a share offered.

Mr Koh’s brother, Koh Wee Meng, is the executive chairman and chief executive officer of Fragrance Group, which runs more than 20 economy hotels locally and builds landed homes and apartments here.

Market observers have cited potential synergies between LCD’s hospitality business and the property businesses of the Koh brothers, suggesting why a strategic influence in LCD is highly coveted.

Trading of LCD shares were halted on Friday prior to the announcement; they will resume trading on Monday. They were last traded at 28 Singapore cents per share on Thursday.

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