Stocks to watch: Oxley, Hanwell, OUE Lippo Healthcare

THESE companies have seen new developments that may affect trading of their shares on Friday:

Oxley Holdings: Property developer Oxley Holdings has accepted a letter of intent (LOI) for the purchase of its Mercure and Novotel hotels in Stevens Road for S$950 million. The letter of intent is non-binding and is subject to the parties entering into a definitive sale and purchase agreement, Oxley said in an announcement late on Thursday evening. Under the terms of the LOI, upon receipt of S$9.5 million as a non-refundable deposit, the buyer will be entitled to carry out due diligence during the period until April 15, 2019. The counter was trading at 29.5 Singapore cents or one Singapore cent higher before trading was halted on Jan 10 for the announcement.

Hanwell Holdings: Provider of consumer products Hanwell Holdings plans to do a capital reduction exercise to return to shareholders surplus capital through a cash distribution. The exercise will be done by reducing the company's issued and paid-up share capital by S$20 million from S$200.1 million to S$180.1 million. The amount will be distributed to shareholders based on a price of 3.614 Singapore cents per share. The exercise will have no impact on the earnings per share of the company, although it will bump up return on equity (excluding non-controlling interest) from 3.32 per cent to 3.55 per cent on a pro forma basis, based on the company's unaudited financial statements for the nine months ended Sept 30, 2018, and assuming that the exercise was completed on Sept 30, 2018. The company shares changed hands at 18 Singapore cents or 0.2 Singapore cent lower when market closed on Jan 10.

OUE Lippo Healthcare (OUELH): Catalist-listed OUELH is venturing into Myanmar with stake acquisitions in two joint venture companies that own three hospitals, one medical centre and two clinics. This will give the company presence in the key cities of Yangon, Mandalay and Taunggyi, the subsidiary company of OUE Limited said on Thursday. OUELH's wholly owned units have signed a sale and purchase agreement with Waluya Graha Loka to acquire a 40 per cent stake in Yoma Siloam Hospital Pun Hlaing Limited (YSHPH), and a 35 per cent stake in Pun Hlaing International Hospital Limited (PHIH), for US$19.5 million in all. The consideration is intended to be fully funded by the net proceeds from the placement of 562.5 million shares to Browny Healthcare completed in February 2018. Some S$41.5 million from the placement has not been used yet. In Myanmar, healthcare spending increased from US$279 million in 2012 to US$789 million in 2018, and the government plans to implement large-scale reforms such as the provision of universal healthcare coverage by 2030. Shares of the company stayed flat at 6.8 Singapore cents on Thursday, while those of OUE added one cent to finish at S$1.47.