OCBC garners 93.52% of Great Eastern’s shares, short of compulsory acquisition threshold
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The amount is lower than the 98.87% shareholding required to trigger a compulsory acquisition of shares.
ST PHOTO: KUA CHEE SIONG
Renald Yeo
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SINGAPORE – OCBC and its concert parties have garnered 93.52 per cent of shares in Great Eastern at the close of the offer on July 12.
This is lower than the 98.87 per cent shareholding required to trigger a compulsory acquisition of shares that OCBC does not already own in the insurer.
Trading in Great Eastern’s shares is now expected to be suspended as the number of shares in public hands is below the 10 per cent free float threshold.
OCBC had in May made a voluntary unconditional general offer of $1.4 billion for the remaining 11.56 per cent stake in Great Eastern that it did not already own, with the aim of delisting the insurer.
This translates to an offer price of $25.60 per share, which represents a 36.9 per cent premium over Great Eastern’s last traded price of $18.70 before the offer announcement.
However, it is a 30 per cent discount to the insurer’s embedded value per share of $36.59 as at Dec 31, 2023.
In June, the independent financial adviser to the deal, professional services firm EY, determined that OCBC’s offer is “not fair but reasonable”.
Shares in OCBC closed 0.5 per cent or eight cents higher at $15.28 on July 12. Those in Great Eastern rose 0.7 per cent or 17 cents to $25.80, before the announcement. THE BUSINESS TIMES
