Keppel divests $80 million of assets as part of multi-billion dollar monetisation programme
The transactions are in line with Keppel's $10 billion to $12 billion monetisation target by end-2026. ST PHOTO: BRIAN TEO
SINGAPORE - Asset manager Keppel is divesting its stakes in a New-York based company and a logistics park in China to unlock more than $80 million from the monetisation of non-core assets, the group said on June 6.
This is in line with its $10 billion to $12 billion monetisation target by end-2026. It follows the group's establishment of a task force, set up earlier this year, to optimise the speed of divestments of non-core assets – the Accelerating Monetisation Task Force (AMTF).
Keppel has divested its 20.5 per cent stake in Computer Generated Solutions, a company that provides business process outsourcing, enterprise resource planning software and e-learning services.
It is also disposing its 75.8 per cent stake in the Wanjiang Logistics Park, an integrated agricultural logistics park located in the Lu'an city of China's Anhui province. The divestment is set to complete in the second half of 2025.
While both assets were on Keppel's balance sheet for years with 'limited exit options', the AMTF reviewed them and came up with fresh divestment perspectives that allow the group to realise more than $80 million in value from their disposals, said Mr Lee Kok Chew, head of Keppel's AMTF.
Since embarking on its $17.5 billion asset monetisation programme in October 2020, Keppel has announced over $7.3 billion in monetisation to date, the group said. These include the latest two divestments.
The asset manager is currently in advanced stages of negotiating another $550 million of real estate transactions.
'The monetisation of non-core assets, together with Keppel's growing recurring income, will put the company in a good position to continue rewarding shareholders well, whether through dividends, distributions in-specie or share buybacks,' the group said.
The divestments are not expected to have material impact on Keppel's net tangible asset per share or earnings per share for the current fiscal year.
Shares of Keppel ended on June 5 2 per cent or $0.14 higher at $6.97, before the news. THE BUSINESS TIMES
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