CK Asset (1113) has proposed to acquire the entirety of London-listed real estate investment trust Civitas Social Housing for 485 million ( HK$4.8 billion) in cash.
The acquisition offer of 80 pence per share is at a 44.4 percent premium over the REIT's last Friday close of 55.4 pence, and is made through CK's subsidiary Wellness Unity, a filing showed yesterday.
Civitas Social Housing's shares jumped 44.22 percent to 79.9 pence last night after the announcement.
The deal would require the approvals of not less than 75 percent of the shareholders of Civitas Social Housing and the Competition and Markets Authority in the UK to complete, the filing said.
Once the acquisition is completed, the REIT will be delisted from London.
Civitas Social Housing is the owner of specialized supported housing and residential care houses that are used to accommodate vulnerable adults aged 18 to 65 with long-term learning disabilities or mental health issues.
"Underpinned by steady income and stable returns, Civitas Social Housing fits well within our investment criteria and adds to our global real estate portfolio," CK Asset's head of special projects Chiu Yue-seng said.
The proposal came as CK Hutchison (0001) said its subsidiary CK Hutchison Group Telecom's first-quarter revenue inched up by 1 percent year-on-year to nearly EUR2.45 billion (HK$21 billion).
But the figure was down by 8 percent from the fourth quarter of 2022.
The total margin of the telecom firm rose 2 percent from a year ago to EUR1.75 billion but was 1 percent lower from the previous quarter.
In the period, the number of active customers grew by 2 percent to 42.7 million compared to January-March 2022, but the churn rate of contract customers also edged up by 0.2 percentage points to 1.3 percent. Capital expenditures declined by 19 percent to EUR400 million.
Revenue from its UK business was 610 million, up by 5 percent year-on-year but down 11 percent from the December quarter. Active customer number advanced by 6 percent from 12 months ago but was flat compared to the previous quarter.
In other news, Hutchison Telecommunications (0215), the 3 Hong Kong operator, opened its fourth Supreme shop in Central to offer high-end services to its customers.
