Keppel Corp owns 95.1% of Keppel Land at close of offer

SINGAPORE — Keppel Corp’s final deadline for its S$3 billion offer to buy out its property unit passed yesterday without it securing the necessary stake that would allow a higher offer price to kick in.

In a regulatory filing with Singapore Exchange (SGX) late yesterday, the conglomerate said it owned 95.1 per cent of Keppel Land at the close of its offer at 5.30pm. This is up from the 93.9 per cent it owned on Monday, but still short of the 95.5 per cent it needed to compulsorily acquire all the remaining Keppel Land shares that it does not own.

The conglomerate had offered a two-tier price for Keppel Land shares it did not already own — a base offer price of S$4.38 per share and a higher offer price of S$4.60 if it reaches the compulsory acquisition threshold. Not reaching the 95.5 per cent threshold means that the buyout price will be at S$4.38.

Keppel Corp, the world’s largest oil-rig maker, already held 54.6 per cent of Keppel Land when it made a voluntary unconditional cash offer in January for the rest of the shares of its property unit, in a move to diversify its income streams in a weak oil market.

Following the announcement of the offer, Keppel Land shares surged above S$4.50 and had closed above that level since, until Monday, when they ended at S$4.46. As recently as March 20, the shares had hit a peak of S$4.58.

At yesterday’s close, Keppel Land shares were down by another 1 cent at S$4.45, while Keppel Corp shares fell 4 cents to S$9 each.

Keppel Corp said in the SGX filing that trading of Keppel Land shares would be suspended and it would take steps to delist the property developer.

Remaining shareholders who did not accept the offer by the deadline yesterday can require Keppel Corp to buy their shares at S$4.38 each in cash, under the Companies Act.