Casino and casino cruise ship investor Genting Hong Kong Ltd announced on Tuesday that it will be voluntarily delisting its shares from the main board of the Singapore Exchange. The company said the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Ltd had no objection to the firm’s proposed delisting of its shares. The formal date of delisting is yet to be announced.
The Hong Kong-listed company – which has a secondary listing on the Singapore Exchange – said the reason for the delisting is to allow the firm “to focus its efforts and resources on its core business activities relating to the operation of cruise ships in Asia (in particular, North-Asia)”.
“The company believes that it is desirous to increase the visibility of the company among the North-Asian investors and envisages that maintaining a single primary listing on the main board of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange… will enhance the company’s profile to North-Asian investors,” Genting Hong Kong stated in a Tuesday filing.
The firm also said that the proposed delisting “will eliminate the additional administrative overhead and costs of compliance associated with requirements [of the Singapore Exchange] and allow the company to… reduce its legal and compliance costs, and focus its resources on its business operations”.
A separate press release from Genting Hong Kong on Tuesday quoted Lim Kok Thay, the company’s chairman and chief executive, as saying that “the consolidated trading of the company’s shares on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange arising from the proposed delisting is also expected to increase the liquidity of such shares… thereby improving the effectiveness of any future capital raising activities to be undertaken by the company”.
He added: “Genting Hong Kong is committed to the growth of the Asian cruise market. As we continue to expand our product offering and services to meet the growing demands of the Chinese market, the company aims to focus our resources on our business operations and streamline its compliance obligations.”
In Tuesday’s filing, Genting Hong Kong stated: “After the delisting, shares will only be traded on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange. The voting rights and entitlement to dividends of shareholders will not be affected by the delisting… The company will issue further announcements to inform shareholders of, inter alia, the timetable for the proposed delisting.”
