On Aug 24, there was a minor amendment to the agreement with ESR Cayman paying US$519 million in cash, and US$4,673 million by the issue of 1,345,898,078 consideration securities, with the allocation between consideration shares and consideration VLNs to be determined in accordance with the agreed calculation methodology. In the latest announcement there will be no issue of VLNs.
On Sept 30, ESR Cayman announced that the circular for the EGM would be delayed by three weeks, from Sept 30, to Oct 22. The EGM would be held by Nov 15. The delay is to allow sufficient time for the company to prepare the circular, including the accountants’ report on the ARA Group, the company said.
ESR Cayman closed at HK$23.05 on Oct 12, following share buybacks on most trading days this month, including on Oct 11, when the company bought 750,000 shares at prices between HK$22.50 and HK$23.05. The share buyback programme was opportune.
Following the Aug 4 announcement, ESR Cayman shares dived and would have fallen to a level which could have triggered a break clause. However, the share price recovered as the share buyback programme kicked in.
