Otto Marine announces delisting deal

SINGAPORE - Offshore marine group Otto Marine has received a formal acquisition offer for its shares and is likely to become the first firm from the hard-pressed sector to be delisted.

In an exchange filing on Wednesday, the company said it has received an exit offer of 32 cents per share from RHB Securities, the potential buyer's financial adviser.

This is a premium of 39.13 per cent over the share price of 23 cents on June 1, the last full day of trading in the shares before the company called for a trading halt.

The potential buyer, a firm called Ocean International Capital Limited, does not intend to revise the exit offer price, said Otto Marine in its exchange filing.

The delisting is subject to holders of Otto Marine Services' multicurrency term notes agreeing to certain terms.

Otto Marine said in its exchange filing that the delisting will give shareholders the opportunity to realise their investment in the shares at a premium.

The delisting would also give the management greater flexibility to develop existing businesses while exploring opportunities without the attendant costs, regulatory restrictions and compliance issues associated with being listed.

An extraordinary general meeting (EGM) will be convened for shareholders and the company will despatch a notice about this in due course.

If the delisting resolution is approved by shareholders at the EGM, the exit offer will be open for acceptance by shareholders for a period of at least 14 days after the date of the announcement of shareholder's approval.

Otto Marine, which is 61.2 per cent-owned by Malaysian tycoon Yaw Chee Siew, has been reporting annual losses since 2011.

chiaym@sph.com.sg

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