Wesfarmers’ move to match a $178m offer from EC Healthcare for SILK Laser Australia is thought to have come from its realisation that the offer from its rival was increasingly looking like it was real.
When Hong Kong-based EC Healthcare trumped the $3.15 per share Wesfarmers bid in April with a $3.35 per share offer that emerged on May 23, there was understood to be some scepticism in the Wesfarmers camp that the bidder was real, and it opted not to exercise its matching rights for the target.
But EC Healthcare told the market on Friday in Hong Kong that it had secured the funding for a bid, which makes it look more likely to occur.
SILK said that it had entered into an agreed deal with Wesfarmers business Australian Pharmaceutical Industries (API) to pay $3.35, but EC Healthcare could still return with a higher offer.
Highbury Partnership and Kain Lawyers are working with SILK and one of the company’s major shareholders is Wilson Asset Management, with a 9.3 per cent holding.
Strong synergies exist for Wesfarmers’ API to own SILK, as both operate in the skin treatments and injectables space.
API has 90-plus Clear Skincare clinics across Australia and New Zealand.
It also controls 470 Priceline Pharmacy stores, 975 Soul Pattinson Chemists and manufactures personal care products through its consumer brands operation.
SILK listed in 2020 with a market value of $162.5m and now has 142 clinics across Australia and New Zealand.
SILK shares closed up 50c to $3.32, almost 18 per cent.
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