Keppel Corp extends Keppel Land offer deadline to Tuesday

SINGAPORE — Conglomerate Keppel Corp, which is taking steps to delist Keppel Land after securing more than 90 per cent of the company, has extended its closing date for the takeover of its property subsidiary to Tuesday from yesterday, adding that this would be the final deadline.

Keppel Corp has no intention of extending the offer beyond 5.30pm on the final closing date and acceptances received after this time will be rejected, the conglomerate said in a regulatory filing with the Singapore Exchange (SGX) yesterday.

Its stake in Keppel Land had grown to 93.2 per cent yesterday from 90.9 per cent a day earlier, it said.

While this allows it to delist the counter from SGX, it is still shy of the 95.5 per cent threshold that will let it compulsorily acquire all remaining Keppel Land shares.

In January, Keppel Corp, which already held 54.6 per cent of Keppel Land, made the voluntary unconditional cash offer to buy out the rest of the shares, as the world’s largest oil-rig maker sought more diversified income streams in a weak oil market.

The conglomerate offered a two-tier price for Keppel Land shares it did not already own — a base offer price of S$4.38 and a higher offer price of S$4.60 if it reaches the compulsory acquisition threshold.

Keppel Corp shares yesterday rose 11 cents, or 1.2 per cent, to close at S$9.05 each, while Keppel Land shares fell 2 cents, or 0.4 per cent, to S$4.53.