WiseVest - Restructuring Haw Par

Haw Par is one of the key companies within the Wee family's stable. With a substantial stake in UOB that is worth around S$600 million at least, the company has seen Wee Cho Yaw accumulating his stake in the past year. The company is famous for the Tiger Balm which it sells internationally. The brand 'Tiger Balm' has also been given the top honours by IE Singapore for its international success. On top of the stake of UOB at hand, Haw Par also holds a large cash hoard of up to S$500 million. This would value current assets and assets that could be easily liquefied at around S$1 billion, putting it in a net cash surplus position that it could return to shareholders.

As of yesterday, the charts of Haw Par have showed a break away point from its level of around S$5.00 to close at S$5.70. Some stockbrokers have suggested that S$7.00 could be a fair value for this company. Another UOB linked stock, UOL have appreciated over the last 3 months on the back of asset revaluation and note that the Wee family have also accumulated stock on UOL. However with the increase in shareholding by the Wees, there is a possibility that it is for the sake of better control over UOB.