Singapore tycoon fires new salvo

Singapore tycoon fires new salvo

SINGAPORE: Singapore tycoon Ong Beng Seng Monday fired a new salvo in the intriguing battle for control of industrial giant NatSteel Ltd., raising his offer to S$2.05 (US$1.16) per share from S$2.03.

The revised offer from Ong's 98 Holdings consortium came just days before NatSteel's biggest shareholder, Indonesian businessman Oei Hong Leong, must publicly declare whether he will make a full offer for the steel miller.

Oei's Sanion Enterprises has been setting the pricing standard as it bought its way up to a 29.79 percent stake.

Although Sanion is short of the 30 percent threshold to make a mandatory general offer, it has been told by regulators to make known by the end of the week whether there will be a takeover bid for the government-linked company.

Ong's 98 Holdings, which is backed by the government investment arm Temasek Holdings, said it has also extended the closing date for its offer by two weeks until Dec. 23, the third extension since launching the offer in October. -- AFP