GREAT Eastern Holdings (GEH) has been granted nearly three months to explore options to restore its public float, which dropped below 10 per cent in June.
The Singapore Exchange (SGX) has given the insurer until Oct 23 to do so, GEH said on Friday (Aug 2).
It had sought approval from SGX for a time extension on restoring its public float, as OCBC’s final shareholding level in the insurer is still being determined.
This is because existing GEH shareholders who have yet to accept OCBC’s offer can still do so, as the bank and its concert parties hold more than 90 per cent of the insurer’s shares.
A notice was sent to these shareholders, who have a three-month period starting from Jul 24 in which they can exercise the right to encash their shares.
GEH also said on Friday that it will notify its shareholders if there are any material developments, including updates on the restoration of the free float.
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OCBC’s voluntary unconditional general offer for GEH at S$25.60 per share closed on Jul 12. The proportion of shares in the hands of the public dropped to less than 10 per cent at the offer’s close, with OCBC and its concert parties garnering 93.52 per cent of the shares in the insurer.
This is lower than the 98.87 per cent shareholding that is required to trigger a compulsory acquisition of the shares that OCBC does not already own in the insurer. It also fell short of the 97.17 per cent level at which frontline regulator SGX Regulation may have directed GEH to make an offer to delist.
In May, OCBC made a voluntary unconditional general offer of S$1.4 billion for the remaining 11.56 per cent stake in GEH that it did not already own, with the aim to delist the insurer.
The offer price of S$25.60 per share represents a 36.9 per cent premium over GEH’s last traded price of S$18.70 before the offer announcement. It is, however, at a 30 per cent discount to the insurer’s embedded value per share of S$36.59 as at Dec 31, 2023.
In June, the independent financial adviser to the deal deemed OCBC’s offer “not fair but reasonable”.
Shares of GEH have been suspended from trading since Jul 15.
