Sogo department store operator to delist in December as shareholders approve tycoon Thomas Lau’s privatisation offer

Nearly 95 per cent of independent shareholders voted in favour of Lifestyle International’s HK$1.88 billion (US$239 million) privatisation scheme

The company will be delisted on December 20, ending its stint as a listed entity after 18 years

Reading Time:2 minutes

The Sogo department store in Causeway Bay. The company that operates it has seen sales slump amid a lack of tourists for the past three years. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Published: 8:52am, 22 Nov 2022Updated: 12:36pm, 22 Nov 2022

Lifestyle International, which operates the popular Sogo department store in Hong Kong, will be delisted next month after independent shareholders accepted an offer by the chairman to buy out their shares, bringing the curtains down on its 18 years as a listed entity.

Tycoon Thomas Lau Luen-hung’s HK$1.88 billion (US$239 million) move to privatise the company received 94.93 per cent of votes in favour while 5.07 per cent rejected it, the company said in a stock exchange filing on Monday. The scheme requires 75 per cent of approval and no more than 10 per cent of dissent to pass.

The last day of the stock’s trading will be on December 6 and it will be delisted on December 20, the filing said.

The company’s shares closed 4.5 per cent higher at HK$4.90 on Monday before the voting result, close to the privatisation offer of HK$5 per share.

Thomas Lau Luen-hung, chairman of Lifestyle International Holdings, pictured in August 2018. Photo: Jonathan Wong

Lau, through his wholly-owned company Emerald Energy Holdings, made the privatisation proposal on August 1. He offered to buy 376.8 million shares, or 25.09 per cent of the retailer he does not already own or control, for a total of HK$1.88 billion.

Select Voice

Choose your listening speed

Get through articles 2x faster

1.25x

250 WPM

Slow

Average

Fast

00:0000:00

1.25x