Singapore Technologies transfers shareholdings to parent Temasek Holdings[

Singapore Technologies transfers shareholdings to parent Temasek Holdings[

Singapore Technologies will transfer all its shareholdings to its parent company -- government investment arm Temasek Holdings -- as part of a rationalization plan, the companies said on Wednesday.

The announcement comes a day after Temasek, which owns a chunk of many of Singapore's biggest companies, published its first annual report in which it said it plans to reduce its exposure to Singapore to just one-third of its portfolio over the next 10 years.

Singapore Technologies is one of the city-state's leading engineering-based companies and the move will also affect several major listed companies, such as SembCorp Industries, CapitaLand, and Chartered Semiconductor Manufacturing.

The restructuring will result in 128 Singapore Technologies employees being laid off by the end of 2004, the companies said in a statement.

"This rationalization is part of our overall effort to manage Temasek's capital structure more efficiently," Temasek Executive Director and chief executive Ho Ching said in the statement.

The report confirmed that Temasek is by far Singapore's biggest shareholder, with total assets of S$180 billion (US$107 billion) and about S$9.32 billion ($5.54 billion) in cash.

Ho is the wife of Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong and is listed as one of Asia's most powerful business personalities by Fortune magazine. -- AP