Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp is now offering to buy out the chunk of insurer Great Eastern that it does not already own, for S$900 million ($699.90 million), almost a year after failing to gain full control of the firm.
Under the conditional exit offer announced on Friday, the financial giant is offering S$30.15 for the 6.28% of the insurer’s stock that it does not own. This values Great Eastern at S$14.27 billion.
In May 2024, OCBC offered S$25.60 apiece for the 11.56% stake in Great Eastern. The new exit offer reflects a 17.8% premium as compared to the previous bid.
Any fresh offer from Singapore’s second-largest bank would mark its fourth attempt to fully acquire Great Eastern, following three previous bids since 2004.
OCBC currently owns nearly 94% of the insurer, but that stake still falls short of the threshold needed to delist the company or launch a compulsory acquisition.
Trading in Great Eastern’s shares was suspended on July 15, 2024, after its free float fell below 10%.
Reuters
