The obvious choice was a sale to Jardines, which already owned 29% through Jardine Strategic, and had slowly been upping its stake by taking dividends in scrip rather than cash. The problem, however, was that such a purchase would lead to a potential S$800 million cash outlay, as by breaching the 30% ownership level, the deal would trigger a general offer to all shareholders.
On Friday it was announced that Singapore's Securities Industries Council had given a waiver on the general offer provision of the takeover code, and allowed Jardines to make a partial offer for the 21%, taking its ownership to 50.4% for an outlay of S$241.7 million $138 million.
Why the takeover...
