OCBC To Reject Offer For Straits Trading

Source : The Business Times, February 15, 2008

Singapore's Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp said on Friday that it does not intend to accept the offer for Straits Trading, a move by a key shareholder that could end the tussle for the commodities and property firm.

OCBC and its insurance arm Great Eastern Holdings control about 25 per cent of Straits Trading, which is the subject of a takeover battle involving the Singapore lender's main shareholder and the family of OCBC's late chairman.

The Lee family, OCBC's biggest shareholder, on Thursday raised its offer for Straits Trading to $6.55 a share, valuing the firm at $2.1 billion (US$1.5 billion). The Lees' revised bid surpassed the $6.50 a share offered by Tecity, which is controlled by the family of former OCBC chairman Tan Chin Tuan.

'OCBC has held the Straits Trading shares as a long-term investment for many years,' the bank said in a statement. 'Over the three-year period ended Dec 31, 2007, STC (Straits Trading) shares achieved a total shareholders' return of approximately 40.7 per cent per annum.'

Straits Trading is one of Singapore's oldest trading houses and its businesses including tin smelting, metals trading, hotels and property. -- REUTERS