Chinese medicine maker and retailer Eu Yan Sang (Hong Kong) will disappear from the stock exchange temporarily after a successful $229 million takeover bid by younger members of the Eu family, but its absence should not be for long. The new management - the family's fourth generation - said it planned to float its Singapore-based arm, Eu Yan Sang International Holdings (EYSI), which becomes the umbrella company for 100 per cent-owned EYS (HK) and other Eu family businesses. EYSI managing director Richard Eu said: 'We will try to list the holding company, but we are not in a hurry.' MBO Partners director Alfredo Ayala, who has joined EYSI as a non-executive director, said: 'It [the proposed float] makes sense as the holding company needs capital for worldwide expansion.' The takeover offer, which arose after disagreements within the family over how the businesses should be run, ended with the bidding vehicle, Essence Holdings, owning 97.4 per cent of EYS (HK). Essence will compulsorily acquire the rest and EYS (HK) will apply to delist its shares in the near future. The shares will be suspended from today. After the bid, the families of Clifford Eu Yee-fong, Richard Eu Yee-ming and Joseph Eu will hold a collective 53 per cent of EYSI. Private institutional investor and financial advisor MBO Partners will hold about 33 per cent and other family members, including Robert Eu Yee-sang, will control 14 per cent. MBO committed US$88 million to help fund the takeover. The bid has simplified the company's holding structure, reducing the number of branches of the family holding shares from 12 to five as Essence mopped up shares held by other Eu family members around the world. EYS (HK)'s 75-year-old chairman, Edward Eu Keng-oi, said after the in-fighting which led to the bid that he was happy to see the businesses reunited and under the continued control of the Eu family. 'We believe it is very positive that the younger members of the family will now be actively involved in running the entire group's operations,' he said. Mr Ayala attributed the offer's success to what he said was a 'pretty fair' bid price of HK$1.25 per share. That price represents a premium of about 31 per cent over the stock's average price this year of 95.5 HK cents. 'The older [third] generation is quite happy about the union of the family business,' Richard Eu said. The completion of the general offer on Friday saw EYSI take charge of businesses spanning Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia. All three are still embroiled in trademark litigation, with the Hong Kong arm launching action two years ago against the other two subsidiaries for registering trade marks it already owned. Richard Eu said the long-running action would be settled out-of-court under the new shareholding structure. 'It is no longer an issue,' Richard Eu said. 'It will be silly to sue companies that now we own.' Despite this, EYS (HK) still faces a potential problem over suspected breaches of rules on the protection of endangered species. The Agriculture and Fisheries Department raided the company's four local premises twice in July and seized some ingredients for investigation. 'We are still waiting for the hearing from the court,' Richard Eu said. 'Those ingredients, say, unprocessed parts of pangolin, haven't been used in our products for a long time.' He blamed the allegations on staff who forgot to clear up forbidden materials left in storage. EYSI plans to beef up production by spending US$2 million on a new plant in Malaysia, where it already has an existing facility. The new plant will be operational in the third quarter of next year to make a full range of products, including Bak Foong Pills, Bo Ying compound and Bing Sun pills.
