Singapore banker buys more UIC stake, Salim says sale still on

Singapore banker buys more UIC stake, Salim says sale still on

SINGAPORE (Reuters): Singapore banker Wee Cho Yaw continued to
mop up more United Industrial Corp. shares even as Indonesia's
Salim group said on Tuesday it was on course to sell its stake to
Hong Kong's HKR International.

In shareholding declarations filed with the Stock Exchange of
Singapore, United Overseas Bank, headed by Wee, said it bought
446,000 UIC shares at S$0.8989 apiece on March 22.

The shares were bought through Tye Hua Nominees which now
holds 77.13 million shares or 5.71 percent, up from 5.67 percent
previously. On Monday, Tye Hua said it bought 1.97 million UIC
shares.

Analysts said it was not clear what Wee's current stake in UIC
was, but it did seem to set him up for possible battle with the
new incoming major Hong Kong shareholder.

A UOB official said she could not comment on Wee's current
stake in UIC.

Tan Kong King, Managing Director of KMP Pte. Ltd., a
Singapore-based unit of Indonesia's Salim empire, told Reuters in
a telephone interview he did not know how much Wee held of UIC
through his various companies but guessed that it "could be very
close" to Salim's 23 percent stake.

Asked to comment on Wee's move to buy more shares, Tan said he
could not speculate on Wee's intentions.

"I think the market is too sensitive to such news. Personally,
I think it is not that significant as he has been buying since
last year," Tan said.

He also dispelled concerns that the UIC sale might face
hitches after the company failed to meet profit targets, set as
conditions of sale by HKR.

"As far as we are concerned, the deal is on and we are making
preparations to complete the sale on March 31," Tan said.

Tan said he had been in daily contact with HKR officials since
the UIC results and they had not indicated in any way that the
deal was off.

"They are taking all the necessary steps needed for the deal
to be completed on time. Actions speak louder than words, I think
it is correct to say everything is proceeding as usual," he said.

Tan said HKR was conducting its own due diligence and carrying
out independent investigations on UIC.

A HKR official in Hong Kong said the company would not comment
until due diligence had been completed.

Two weeks ago, Salim said it had reached a conditional
agreement to sell its 23 percent UIC stake to Hong Kong's HKR
International for S$1 a share or S$310.9 million.

Two conditions imposed on the sale was that UIC's net profit
after extraordinaries and net tangible asset would not fall by
more than 35 percent from 1997 levels.

One of the conditions was breached last week when UIC
announced that its net profit after extraordinaries fell 44
percent to S$34.41 million.

In addition, the Hong Kong party was making arrangements to
transfer funds as well as preparing for the movement of the
shares, he said.

On whether the price might be changed following UIC's results,
Tan said "no way".