NatSteel receives higher bid for takeover

NatSteel receives higher bid for takeover

The Singaporean mill NatSteel informed its shareholders that it received an offer from 98 Holdings Pte. Ltd. via Standard Chartered Bank (SCB) last week to acquire all the issued ordinary NatSteel shares of S$0.50 at S$1.93($1.08) cash. This offer is S$0.03 higher than the offer submitted by the Crown Central Assets (CCL), a management buy-out company, yet on a different basis. 20% share of 98 Holdings, formed two weeks ago, is held by Temasek Holdings, a Singaporean state investment company, planning to open state controlled companies to the private sector. According to company officials, there is no procedural obstacle against accepting 98 Holding offer, yet the board of NatSteel will first look for further clarifications on the terms and conditions of the offer prior to any decision. According to reports, an independent financial advisor will be appointed to report on the offer to the independent directors of NatSteel. An extraordinary general meeting will be held with the shareholders shortly in order to decide between the offers from CCL and 98 Holdings.