MBK offers to buy Singapore's AsiaPharm for $253 mln

SINGAPORE, Feb 5 (Reuters) - AsiaPharm Group (ASPH.SI: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), a Singapore-listed firm focused on the drugs sector in China, said on Tuesday private equity firm MBK Partners has offered to buy the company for S$357 million ($253 million).

LuYe Pharmaceutical, a unit of Asia-focused buyout firm MBK Partners, has offered S$0.725 a share for AsiaPharm, about 14 percent above its last closing price of S$0.635 on Jan 31 before it called a trading halt, according to the offer document.

MBK Partners said AsiaPharm shareholders, who hold 44.17 percent stake in the company, have agreed to sell their shares to the firm.

It said the privatised firm would be able to meet the challenges of China's growing healthcare sector.

MBK Partners, which is based in the Cayman Islands, manages $1.56 billion and focuses on Asia. (Reporting by Tan Weixin, editing by Saeed Azhar)