CVC Offers $1.1 Billion to Buy Out Nirvana Asia
Friday, July 08, 2016
(WSJ by Wayne Ma) – Private-equity firm CVC Capital Partners said Friday that it agreed to pay $1.1 billion to buy out Nirvana Asia Ltd., Asia’s largest funeral-services provider by revenue.
CVC, whose headquarters are in London, said it would pay three Hong Kong dollars (39 U.S. cents) a share to take Nirvana private—the same price at which the Malaysian company listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange in December 2014. The offer represents a more than 22% premium to where its shares last exchanged hands.
Trading in Nirvana was suspended last week, pending information regarding a takeover or merger, after its shares rose suddenly.
Nirvana, based in Kuala Lumpur, was the first funeral-services company in Asia to offer packages for people while they are still alive. Founded in 1990, it has significant real-estate holdings in Malaysia, where it sells burial plots and develops cemeteries.
Almost three-quarters of its revenue still comes from Malaysia, with almost 40% for so-called niches, which relatives use to store funeral urns in space-strapped cities such as Singapore. Nirvana caters primarily to Taoists and Buddhists, offering everything from handcrafted paper models to flowers, urns and caskets.
