CK Ow did explain that the buyer was just trying to buy time and dragging and had no intention of buying. It would be waste of time and money on due diligence, so he choose to abandon the selling. He did admits it's a good offer.

Yes tonylim, you are right.......it was in March 2008.

However, its only natural that STL board had to explain why the deal did not go thru......but I think part, if not much of the blame lies with the board. If you refer to their announcement of 20 Mar08,

http://info.sgx.com/webcoranncatth.nsf/VwAttachments/Att_2DDE6D45B7997858482574120040B1C1/$file/SLC_Announcement_20032008.pdf?openelement

para 4....it says 'As the Group was not keen to sell.....'

If the board was keen on the deal going thru, could they not have granted an extension with another non refundable deposit....as was with the first instance.

I still believe it was a missed opportunity.

Having said that, I also believe that the market currently undervalues STL due to the Aussie and NZ accounting rules for depreciation for properties. 

The A$850 millions deal cancelled by CK OW in 2008 ( not 2007 )becos the buyer couldnot raise the financing, this was brought up by OW during the AGM in 2008. Ow explained with a slide , shown how the buyer played delay tactic by asking extensions again and again and forced SLC management to cancell the deal. Believe if the buyer was proactive to cancel, they have to pay a higher penalty.

Nobody known whether there were other buyers in talk with SLC to buy the hotels, except CK and his teams. But it was very obviuos during that time who would want to add assets to their portfolios when many were trying offload with financing difficulty.

Believe the hotels is still for sales, it is only the price and timing, Certainlly Ow would not be that lees smart to show that he is desperate to sell or it is a must sell asset.

That is about right...but Chmn Ow held too much sentiment in the hotel business (he built it up from scratch...the shipping business was inherited - but he added value) and missed the opportunity in 2007 to realise shareholders value. If the deal went thru, it would have given STL balance sheet net cash of 77c per share) .......what a shame!!!!!

Bear in mind, when he rejected the offer, he said that they are talking to other parties to get a better offer.....but none materialised....and the global financial crises fell upon us.

If he had accepted the offer, STL, with the war chest, could have bought alot of distressed assets at bargain basement price during the financial crises.........and today, STL NAV, after revaluation, could be much more than $1.14......perhaps $2.00

Goes to show, in investments, one should not allow the heart to rule. When this is allowed to happen, even an old pro like Ow makes terrible  mistakes.