Great Eastern to resume trading after less than 75% voted in favour of delisting proposal; OCBC says no further offers ‘in the foreseeable future'
SINGAPORE: Great Eastern could resume trading on the Singapore Exchange (SGX) after less than 75% of minority shareholders voted in favour of delisting the stock at an extraordinary general meeting on Tuesday (July 8). Channel News Asia (CNA) reported that only 63.49% supported the move.
In a bourse filing issued by JP Morgan, for and on behalf of Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation Limited (OCBC), it stated that the exit offer had lapsed, effective July 8, after the delisting resolution failed to gain enough support. 'The delisting will not proceed and the company will remain listed on the SGX-ST,' it said.
OCBC and its concert parties abstained from voting.
In June, OCBC offered Great Eastern to buy the remaining 6.28% it does not own at S$30.15 per share. At the time, the bank also said it had no plans to make another offer if shareholders opted not to delist the stock. On Tuesday, OCBC reiterated that it does not intend to make any further offers 'in the foreseeable future'. See also Community shop with food items opens for Singaporeans in need
Two resolutions were also passed to restore Great Eastern's free float and allow its shares to resume trading on SGX.
Trading in Great Eastern shares has been suspended since July 2024, after its free float dropped below 10% following OCBC's offer to buy an 11.56% stake at S$25.60 per share in May last year.
'As GEH's parent, OCBC has supported GEH's proposal to resolve the 11-month trading suspension of its shares at today's Extraordinary General Meeting,' OCBC said.
The bank also said, 'As part of our undertaking to GEH, we will elect to receive Class C Non-Voting shares under GEH's Bonus Issue. The 10% free float requirement will be restored assuming all GEH minority shareholders receive the bonus ordinary shares.'
'We would not convert these newly-created Class C non-voting shares on and after the fifth anniversary of the issuance as it would result in GEH losing its free float again,' it added.
According to CNA, Great Eastern said it will announce the bonus issue timetable separately on SGXNET, and shareholders who want to receive ordinary shares do not need to take any action. /TISG
Read also: Great Eastern Q4 profit falls 14% to S$134.8M due to medical insurance provisions document.addEventListener("DOMContentLoaded", () => { const trigger = document.getElementById("ads-trigger"); if ('IntersectionObserver' in window && trigger) { const observer = new IntersectionObserver((entries, observer) => { entries.forEach(entry => { if (entry.isIntersecting) { lazyLoader(); // You should define lazyLoader() elsewhere or inline here observer.unobserve(entry.target); // Run once } }); }, { rootMargin: '800px', threshold: 0.1 }); observer.observe(trigger); } else { // Fallback setTimeout(lazyLoader, 3000); } });
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