Latest news with #GreatEastern

Straits Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Straits Times
GE shareholders to decide whether insurer resumes trading with choice on bonus issue from July 29
GE's shares have been suspended from trading on the Singapore Exchange since July 2024. SINGAPORE - Great Eastern (GE) shareholders will receive forms from July 29 to choose whether to take up non-voting shares or receive bonus ordinary shares, a move that will determine whether the insurer can resume trading. Those opting for Class C shares will need to fill out the form and submit it to the Central Depository, also known as CDP, by 5.30pm on Aug 7. However, for shareholders who wish to receive bonus ordinary shares, no action is required on their part. The development comes after a proposed delisting resolution failed to pass at GE's extraordinary general meeting (EGM) earlier this month. The conditional exit offering of $30.15 per share made by GE's parent company OCBC also lapsed. GE's shares have been suspended from trading on the Singapore Exchange since July 2024. The pause occurred after the insurer's public float fell below the 10 per cent minimum required by the exchange. Minority shareholders – who were the only ones allowed to vote – were then asked to vote for the resumption of trading resolution, which necessitates the adoption of a new Constitution to create Class C non-voting shares and undertaking of the proposed bonus issue. More than 98 per cent voted for the new Constitution and the bonus issue resolution. Shareholders will get bonus ordinary shares in respect of their shares unless they elect to receive Class C non-voting shares. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. 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They also cannot be exchanged for ordinary shares for a period of five years. 'A holder of Class C shares will likely find it hard to sell the shares as they have to find a willing buyer privately to do so. Retail investors need to carefully consider if they are willing to give up their voting rights and liquidity by electing to receive Class C shares,' he said. Meanwhile, shareholders who opt for bonus ordinary shares will receive one bonus ordinary share for every share they currently hold, effectively doubling their shareholding, he said. Mr Gerald added that if and when trading resumes, GE shares will undergo price discovery in the open market, where a new post-bonus, post-delisting-offer equilibrium price will be established. In a circular to shareholders dated June 9, GE said that bonus ordinary shares are identical to shareholders' existing shares and will count towards meeting the free float requirement whereas Class C non-voting shares will not count towards the free float. Speaking at a media briefing on July 28, group chief financial officer Ronnie Tan said the company is optimistic that GE will resume trading. He said: 'As explained at our EGM, the Class C shares were essentially structured to allow OCBC to support GE to resume trading in the event that the delisting resolution was not approved. Through the structure, we are optimistic that GE will resume trading through this process. 'It doesn't make sense for shareholders, other than OCBC, to take on Class C shares because it has disadvantages. Shareholders will be giving up quite a lot if they want to choose Class C shares.' GE's board of directors had recommended that shareholders, other than OCBC, do not elect to receive Class C non-voting shares. OCBC said it intends to receive the Class C non-voting shares, which will dilute its own shareholding of voting shares in GE to 88.19 per cent, from 93.72 per cent. This will help to restore GE's minimum free float of 10 per cent and allow trading to resume. However, if a sufficient number of shareholders choose Class C shares, GE may not be able to restore its free float and its trading will remain suspended. Mr Tan said if more than one-third of the shares held by minority shareholders become Class C shares, GE will not be able to meet the free float requirement. If more than two-thirds of shares held by minority shareholders do not become Class C shares, the free float requirement will be met, he added. GE on July 28 reported that its net profit declined 11 per cent to $248.2 million for the quarter ended June 30, from $280.4 million in the same period a year ago. The drop was attributed to lower profit from the insurance business for the quarter.

Straits Times
3 days ago
- Business
- Straits Times
Great Eastern Q2 profit falls 11% to $248.2 million
Find out what's new on ST website and app. Great Eastern will proceed to issue bonus ordinary shares and Class C shares around Aug 19, after shareholders voted to resume trading on July 8. SINGAPORE - Insurer Great Eastern on July 28 posted an 11 per cent decline in second-quarter net profit to $248.2 million, from $280.4 million in the previous corresponding period. The group attributed the decline to lower profit from its insurance business for the quarter. For the six months ended June, net profit inched up 1 per cent to $593.7 million from $587.1 million in the year-ago period. First-half earnings per share rose to $1.25 from $1.24 previously. Total weighted new sales for the second quarter fell 19 per cent to $363.5 million, from $448.3 million a year ago. New business embedded value rose 14 per cent to $167.7 million from $146.5 million. On a half-yearly basis, total weighted new sales slid 27 per cent to $708.6 million, from $972.5 million. First-half new business embedded value climbed 16 per cent to $316.5 million from $272 million. As resolutions to facilitate resumption of trading in Great Eastern's shares were passed at its extraordinary general meeting on July 8, the company said it will execute a bonus issue of up to 473.3 million bonus ordinary shares and/or Class C non-voting shares on or around Aug 19. Top stories Swipe. Select. Stay informed. Singapore Not feasible for S'pore to avoid net‑zero; all options to cut energy emissions on table: Tan See Leng Singapore With regional interest in nuclear energy rising, S'pore must build capabilities too: Tan See Leng Singapore Sewage shaft failure linked to sinkhole; PUB calling safety time-out on similar works islandwide Singapore Workers used nylon rope to rescue driver of car that fell into Tanjong Katong Road sinkhole Singapore New Mandai North Crematorium, ash-scattering garden to open on Aug 15 World Three dead, several injured after train derails in Germany World US and EU clinch deal with broad 15% tariffs on EU goods to avert trade war Asia Displaced villagers at Thai-Cambodian border hope to go home as leaders set to meet for talks The bonus shares are expected to be allotted and issued before the record date of the interim dividend on Aug 28. Thus, the interim one-tier tax exempt dividend of 25 cents per share for the financial year ending Dec 31, 2025, will apply to all shares on a post-bonus issue basis. This includes the bonus ordinary shares and Class C non-voting shares. This is equivalent to an interim one-tier tax exempt dividend of 50 cents per ordinary share on a pre-bonus issue basis, the insurer said. The FY2025 interim dividend will be paid on Sept 5.

The Star
14-07-2025
- Business
- The Star
Great Eastern to resume trading as delisting fails
A man walks past the SGX sign in Singapore. — Reuters SINGAPORE: Great Eastern Holdings Ltd's shares are expected to resume trading in Singapore, after the insurer failed to win enough shareholder support for its delisting plan that was backed by Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp (OCBC). About 63.5% of the insurer's minority shareholders voted for a delisting but that fell short of the threshold needed to take Great Eastern private. This was according to a company filing after an EGM. As a result, OCBC's S$900mil (US$704mil) offer has lapsed, the country's second-largest lender, said in a separate filing. The deal's failure is a setback for OCBC, which has owned the majority of Great Eastern since 2004 and has tried multiple times to take the 117-year-old insurer private. OCBC chief executive officer Helen Wong has said that it wanted to fully integrate its banking, wealth management and insurance businesses, and that owning all of Great Eastern would help improve its shareholder returns. To support Great Eastern's delisting proposal, OCBC had offered S$30.15 a share for the 6.28% of the insurer it does not own. It improved the offer by 17.8% last month from its previous bid. Great Eastern, one of the largest insurers in Singapore and Malaysia, has total assets of more than S$100bil with 16 million-plus policyholders. OCBC's shares closed up 0.8% last Tuesday, versus a 0.4% gain in the broader Straits Times Index. 'Whether OCBC owns 94% or 100%, it has a minimal impact on earnings or strategy as they are already in control,' said Jayden Vantarakis, head of equity research for South-East Asia at Macquarie Capital, adding that the market's view of the lender won't change with the latest outcome. Trading in Great Eastern had been suspended since July 2024, after OCBC failed to obtain a sufficient level for a delisting or compulsory acquisition with its previous offer. Its latest bid this year was still lower than the insurer's 2024 embedded value of S$38.08 a share, a metric used to value insurers elsewhere and cited by resistant minority shareholders urging a higher offer. Great Eastern will issue new shares to meet the exchange's listing rules. After the share issue, OCBC's holding in Great Eastern will be around 88% from the current level of about 94%, the insurer said in an earlier statement. It did not provide any date for the resumption of trading. The insurer has contributed an average of about S$700mil a year in net profit to OCBC over the past 10 years, translating to an average of about 15% of OCBC's annual profit over this period, the bank has said. — Bloomberg


Mint
13-07-2025
- Business
- Mint
Great Eastern to Resume Trading as Delisting Bid Fails
(Bloomberg) -- Great Eastern Holdings Ltd.'s shares are expected to resume trading in Singapore, after the insurer failed to win enough shareholder support for its delisting plan that was backed by Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp. About 63.5% of the insurer's minority shareholders voted for a delisting but that fell short of the threshold needed to take Great Eastern private, according to a company filing on Tuesday after an extraordinary general meeting. As a result, OCBC's S$900 million ($704 million) offer has lapsed, the country's second-largest lender, said in a separate filing. The deal's failure is a setback for OCBC, which has owned the majority of Great Eastern since 2004 and has tried multiple times to take the 117-year-old insurer private. OCBC Chief Executive Officer Helen Wong has said that it wanted to fully integrate its banking, wealth management and insurance businesses, and that owning all of Great Eastern would help improve its shareholder returns. To support Great Eastern's delisting proposal, OCBC had offered S$30.15 a share for the 6.28% of the insurer it does not own. It improved the offer by 17.8% last month from its previous bid. Great Eastern, one of the largest insurers in Singapore and Malaysia, has total assets of more than S$100 billion with 16 million-plus policyholders. OCBC's shares closed up 0.8% on Tuesday, versus a 0.4% gain in the broader Straits Times Index. 'Whether OCBC owns 94% or 100%, it has a minimal impact on earnings or strategy as they are already in control,' said Jayden Vantarakis, head of equity research for Southeast Asia at Macquarie Capital, adding that the market's view of the lender won't change with the latest outcome. Trading in Great Eastern had been suspended since July 2024, after OCBC failed to obtain a sufficient level for a delisting or compulsory acquisition with its previous offer. Its latest bid this year was still lower than the insurer's 2024 embedded value of S$38.08 a share, a metric used to value insurers elsewhere and cited by resistant minority shareholders urging a higher offer. Great Eastern will issue new shares to meet the exchange's listing rules. After the share issue, OCBC's holding in Great Eastern will be around 88% from the current level of about 94%, the insurer said in an earlier statement. It did not provide any date for the resumption of trading. The insurer has contributed an average of about S$700 million a year in net profit to OCBC over the past 10 years, translating to an average of about 15% of OCBC's annual profit over this period, the bank has said. (Corrects currency in fourth paragraph.) More stories like this are available on


CNA
11-07-2025
- Business
- CNA
Commentary: Did anyone really win the Great Eastern-OCBC standoff?
SINGAPORE: At Great Eastern's extraordinary general meeting on Tuesday (Jul 8), around 63.5 per cent of the insurer's minority shareholders said yes to delisting. But this did not meet the 75 per cent approval required to go ahead with the proposal. As a result, the proposed S$30.15 exit offer from majority shareholder OCBC – which was conditional on the delisting resolution being passed – lapsed. This was celebrated by dissenting shareholders as a win for minority rights. At the same time, others picked OCBC, the Singapore Exchange (SGX) as well as Mr Wong Hong Sun and his family - who collectively hold more than a quarter of Great Eastern minority shares that voted this week – as 'winners' in the year-long saga. Mr Wong – whose grandfather chaired Great Eastern for nearly 20 years – has been outspoken about his decision not to sell, citing both sentimental ties and valuation concerns. If everyone is the winner, who is the loser? Two groups of minority shareholders are now left exposed: those who declined OCBC's voluntary general offer last year of S$25.60 per share, and those who supported the more recent S$30.15 offer but were blocked by a small group of holdouts. A SMALL YET POWERFUL GROUP As Great Eastern's filing with the SGX shows, shareholders owning 23.7 million shares voted in person or by proxy. Of those, 15.02 million shares, or 63.49 per cent, voted to delist. But the Wong clan representing 7.56 million shares voted against. Their collective stake accounts for 87.5 per cent of the 8.64 million shares that torpedoed the delisting. In short, despite being the majority of the minorities, shareholders owning the 63.5 per cent voting shares failed to push through the resolution. Following the failed move to delist, Great Eastern shares will likely resume trading. But this share trading can only resume if Great Eastern restores the minimum 10 per cent free float required under SGX's rules. And this in turn depends on whether Great Eastern can carry out its plan to dilute OCBC's stake from 93.7 per cent to below 90 per cent. To effect this dilution, Great Eastern will have to declare a 1-for-1 bonus issue of ordinary and Class C non-voting shares. OCBC has agreed to support this so-called 'Pathway 2' to resolve the suspension impasse by agreeing to take up the non-voting shares. It will not, however, lose its 93.7 per cent rights to any economic benefits offered to ordinary shareholders, such as dividends. The default election for minority shareholders is ordinary voting shares, but they too have a right to accept the bonus shares in the form of the Class C non-voting scrip. From the questions asked during the extraordinary general meeting, it seemed like some shareholders disagreed with the advice of Great Eastern's independent directors and independent financial adviser. One of the shareholders told the Board that had they earlier taken the independent directors' advice, they wouldn't have gotten the higher S$30.15 exit offer. THE RIGHT PRICE This brings us to the next bizarre aspect of this saga. Having torpedoed Pathway 1 (the delisting), minority shareholders holding the combined 36.5 per cent stake surely intend to extract another exit offer, higher than the S$30.15 that they had rejected. Mr Wong was quoted in the press as saying that Great Eastern is his 'grandfather's company … I would not sell it'. What he probably meant was 'it's my grandfather's company, I won't sell at this price.' After all, when probed if the family might sell if the offer price was higher, he said: 'We might.' That is perfectly fair and fine: Every shareholder must seek the best price. But Pathway 2 is also fraught with problems for these dissenting minorities. If most minorities accept ordinary shares, Great Eastern will get to resume trading. However, when trading resumes, Great Eastern's shares will likely go south – below the pre-takeover price of S$18.70 – going by past trends. All minorities will end up worse off than before the takeover bid was launched in May 2024. UK activist fund Palliser, which reportedly bought into the counter at above S$25, will likely book millions of dollars in paper losses. So, it would be in the interest of dissenting shareholders to also scupper the lifting of trading suspension by electing for Class C non-voting shares. Mathematically, they would need the help of another 1.1 million shares to keep the counter in limbo – not delisted but still suspended. WHAT'S THE LIKELIHOOD OF ANOTHER OFFER? Can the dissenting minorities force the parties to make another exit offer? OCBC has stated clearly that it 'will not make another offer for Great Eastern in the foreseeable future'. Why should it? From OCBC's perspective, it can mop up Great Eastern shares if trading resumes at a discounted price. The bank is the master of the long game. Lest anyone forgets, it has been accumulating Great Eastern shares for the last 30 years. If lifting of the suspension is thwarted, the ball will be in the SGX's court to figure out a solution. Can the SGX compel a 'round 2': invite another, perhaps higher, exit offer? Or will it let the market decide on the price of an exit that is the result of willing buyer-willing seller arm's length negotiations between a major shareholder and minority shareholders who want out? There is no precedent, and we could be sailing into uncharted territory. What happened at the extraordinary general meeting is not a situation of the minorities having a voice. It is not a tyranny of the majority. The cynic might even call it tyranny of the 'minority of minorities'. The wishes of two-thirds who wanted to exit at S$30.15 was thwarted by the one-third who hope that the regulator can force OCBC/Great Eastern to come up with a higher exit offer. Finally, all this also raises the question of whether the SGX should rethink its 75 per cent rule to delist a company at the exit offer stage? If nothing else, the Great Eastern situation has laid bare the reality that shareholders controlling one-third of 6 per cent of a company can have the last word on a matter of such importance to all shareholders. Would not a simple majority of, say 50 per cent, be fairer?