NEW YORK, May 23, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The Asia Pacific Fund, Inc. (NYSE:APB) (the “Fund”) announced today that the Board of Directors (‘Board’) of the Fund will submit a proposal to stockholders to liquidate the Fund at the Fund’s 2018 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, unless the Board identifies a viable merger partner by its next Board meeting. The Board has decided to submit the liquidation proposal to stockholders at the request of institutional stockholders.
The Board believes that the Asia Pacific region remains a favorable investment opportunity for stockholders. In addition, the Board notes that as of March 31, 2018 (according to information provided by the Fund’s investment adviser and Thomson Reuters), the Fund’s price-to-earnings and price-to-book multiples and its yield compared very favorably to its benchmark index, which is the MSCI AC Asia ex-Japan Index:
| Fund | Benchmark | |||
| Price to earnings | 8.9x | 12.5x | ||
| Price to book | 1.2x | 1.7x | ||
| Yield | 4.2% | 2.2% | ||
Accordingly, the Board will recommend that stockholders vote against the liquidation.
In the event that Fund stockholders do not vote to liquidate the Fund at the 2018 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, the Board commits to re-submit the liquidation proposal at subsequent annual meetings thereafter, to continually give Fund stockholders the opportunity to consider and decide upon the Fund’s future existence.
For more information, contact:
Pristine Advisers – 1-888-4-ASIA-PAC (1-888-427-4272) or
via email at at pbaronowski@pristineadvisers.com
The Asia Pacific Fund, Inc. is a diversified, closed-end management investment company, organized as a Maryland corporation and is registered with the SEC under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended.
The investment objective of the Fund is to achieve long-term capital appreciation through investment primarily in equity securities in the Asia Pacific countries (excluding Japan). The Fund is managed by Value Partners Hong Kong Limited.
Past performance is no guarantee of future performance. An investment in the Fund is subject to certain risks, including market risk. In general, shares of closed-end funds often trade at a discount from their net asset value and at the time of sale may be trading on the exchange at a price that is more or less than the original purchase price or the net asset value. An investor should carefully consider the Fund’s investment objective, risks, charges and expenses. Please read a Fund’s disclosure documents before investing.
In addition to historical information, this release contains forward-looking statements, which may concern, among other things, domestic and foreign markets, industry and economic trends and developments and government regulation and their potential impact on the Fund’s investment portfolio. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties, including the factors set forth in the Fund’s disclosure documents, filed with the SEC, and actual trends, developments and regulations in the future, and their impact on the Fund could be materially different from those projected, anticipated or implied. The Fund has no obligation to update or revise forward-looking statements.