Cordlife receives partial offer from Thai-listed Medeze for 10% stake

[SINGAPORE] Private cord-blood bank Cordlife Group announced on Tuesday (May 13) that it has received a voluntary conditional cash partial offer for a 10 per cent stake in the company from Medeze Treasury, a wholly owned subsidiary of Medeze Group, a Thai-listed stem cell company.

This is Medeze’s first step into the Singapore market, as the company seeks to explore business opportunities with Cordlife.

Medeze Treasury is seeking to acquire about 25.6 million shares at an offer price of S$0.25 per share. This reflects a premium of around 61.3 per cent over the last traded price of S$0.155 on Friday, and also the 12-month volume-weighted average price. 

As at Tuesday, Medeze Treasury holds nearly 1.7 million shares, which is close to 0.7 per cent of the voting rights in Cordlife.

Assuming that the offer becomes unconditional and there are no changes to the number of shares up for offer, the resultant direct shareholding of Medeze Treasury in Cordlife shall be around 10.7 per cent of the shares (excluding treasury shares) as at the record date.

Medeze Treasury said the deal offers long-term opportunities for both companies, including the promotion of services together for market expansion, products and services development, and operational synergies.

Medeze Group could provide services such as the analysis and storage of the natural killer cell – known for its ability to kill cancer cells – to Cordlife’s customers. Cordlife could offer its chromosomal and genetic analysis and screening services to Medeze Group’s customers.

Maybank Securities analyst Jarick Seet said the deal “offers a chance for shareholders to liquidate some stake at a price much higher than the market”.

“I think it’s the best option the shareholders have now, if they are looking for some liquidity,” he said.

Medeze Treasury, the offer vehicle, is a Singapore-registered company. Its directors are Sharon Lim and Veerapol Khemarangsan, who is also the chief executive officer and co-founder of the parent group.

For financial year 2024, the Medeze Group recorded revenue of 874.3 million baht (S$34.1 million) and net profit of 338.7 million baht, growing 23.6 per cent and 41.4 per cent year on year, respectively.

The group was listed on Thailand’s stock exchange in 2024. It has a market capitalisation of about S$305.6 million as at May 13. It is engaged in the business of analysing, sorting, culturing and storing stem cells and testing the potential of immune cells.

Earlier in March, Cordlife sunk into the red with a net loss of S$6.3 million for its second half ended Dec 31, 2024, compared with a net profit of S$1.3 million in the previous corresponding period. This was mainly due to the fallout from lapses discovered in the storage of the company’s cord-blood units two years ago.

Cordlife requested a trading halt on Tuesday morning. The counter closed 1.9 per cent or S$0.003 lower at S$0.155 on Friday.