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MINORITY
shareholders of publicly listed Keppel Philippines
Marine Inc. have rejected the offer of Singapore-based
KS Investments Pte. Ltd. to buy the remaining shares
held by the public in its tender offer made in April and
in May.
In a
report, shipyard operator Keppel Philippines said it was
able to buy only 1.25 percent shares of the total 6.8
percent shares still held by private investors during
those tender offers.
KS
Investments, which owns 95.66 percent of Keppel
Philippines, did not say why it wants to buy the entire
company that makes small to medium-sized vessels. It
used to own 93 percent of the shipyard operator before
the offers were made.
Formed
in Singapore, KS Investments is wholly owned by Keppel
Offshore and Marine Ltd.
The move
to rack up shares in Keppel Marine started in January
2006 when KS Investments bought 29.33 percent of Keppel
Philippines. That same year, it was able to acquire up
to 93.19 percent of the outstanding common shares, which
was approved by the Philippine Stock Exchange.
“Those
acquisitions, together with [the April and May 2008]
tender offers, are part of the group’s program to
consolidate its regional investments in the marine
industry,” KS Investments said in its report.
It added
that there are no plans to change the composition of the
current board of directors of Keppel Philippines, as
well as the current corporate structure of the business.
Among
the minority shareholders of Keppel Philippines are
retail king Henry Sy, SM group and state-owned
Philippine National Oil Co. Shipping and Transport Corp.
Orders
for conversion and construction of new ships have risen
in the past few months, helped by the mother unit in
Singapore and the increasing demand to convert vessels
to comply with environmental regulations.
Its
board recently approved the investment of about P79
million in capital stock in Goodsoil Marine Realty Inc.,
the property owner of its shipyard in Bauan, Batangas.
For the
first three months of the year, the company turned in a
net profit of P135.13 million, up 60 percent from P84.64
million a year earlier. Its shares closed yesterday at
P2.50 apiece.
The
company earlier said it will “continue to seize
opportunities in the buoyant shipping industry” and
secure more conversion contracts for floating
production, storage and offloading vessels, as well as
single-hulled to double-hulled tankers and other types
of ships.
“[Keppel
Philippines] will play a bigger role in the offshore
rig-fabrication business and expand its shipbuilding
portfolio to include specialized vessels. The company…
will aim to secure high-value contracts in shipbuilding,
offshore oil-rig fabrication, ship repair and
conversion,” it said in a report. |
