98 SECURES MAJORITY STAKE IN NATSTEEL

摘要

After months of shareholder wrangling, hotelier Ong Beng Seng has emerged as the victor in the baffle for control of Singaporean steel producer NatSteel. At the official close of its offer on January 10, Ong's 98 Holdings consortium had accumulated a stake of 50.31 percent in NatSteel: a 42.08 percent shareholding of its own, plus an additional 8.23 percent in shareholder acceptances. 98 Holdings needed a stake of 50 percent plus one share by the close of its bid, which values NatSteel at S 2.06 dollars per share. 98 Holdings' success has come as a surprise to many analysts. Rival bidder Gel Hong Leong, who prior to the close of 98 Holdings' bid had garnered a stake of 29.9 percent only a whisker short of the 30 percent that would have triggered a mandatory takeover bid of his own - was widely tipped to have enough support to frustrate Ong's camp.