Haw Par Corporation

[d.o.g.]

Anyone actually found any plus points of such empires?

1. The holding companies often trade at a discount to the implied value of their assets. If you can hedge, you can obtain exposure to assets for free e.g. long Haw Par, short UOB & UOL, and you can get the cash, real estate, Hua Han etc for free.

2. Sometimes the cash cow in the empire is listed separately and the parent company has a heavy debt load. In such a case the cash cow company will have a very high payout ratio as the cash is needed to prop up the parent company. Buying the cash cow company ensures an alignment of interest with the ultimate shareholder - dividends will be paid as often as possible.