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PR Newswire
24-01-2015, 11:34 AM
http://btd.sg/15Eudfn
"KEPPEL Corp on Friday put paid to rife market speculation by launching an offer to take its subsidiary Keppel Land private.
But while the acquisition target was Keppel Land, much of the market scrutiny fell on Keppel Corp as analysts and investors asked questions about the bid....
.....For Keppel Corp, however, analysts and investors seemed mostly unconvinced about the motivation behind the acquisition.
"Generally, investors are still not clear as to the exact reason on the privatisation because they already have a majority stake," said an analyst. "It's really up to Keppel Corp to show what else they can do to derive additional value."
Many saw the move as a defensive one to diversify the group's earnings at a time when the outlook for its offshore and marine division - which accounts for 55 per cent of its bottom line - is uncertain.......
......The decision to pump money into property, rather than into the offshore and marine sector where assets can now be picked up on the cheap, worried analysts, who wondered if it signalled a more bearish outlook for the sector than the company had let on.....
...Questions were also raised over what seemed to be a dilution of Keppel Corp's exposure to the rig-building business, the reason why many investors bought into the stock in the first place. Asked whether the investor base could now be diluted, Mr Loh said that Keppel Corp had been a conglomerate with a multi-business approach over the past few decades. "We have executed this strategy very well, we believe that this is one of the core tenets for Keppel . . . This transaction, if nothing else, (emphasises) that we believe in this approach that has served us so well."
http://btd.sg/15Eudfn
"KEPPEL Corp on Friday put paid to rife market speculation by launching an offer to take its subsidiary Keppel Land private.
But while the acquisition target was Keppel Land, much of the market scrutiny fell on Keppel Corp as analysts and investors asked questions about the bid....
.....For Keppel Corp, however, analysts and investors seemed mostly unconvinced about the motivation behind the acquisition.
"Generally, investors are still not clear as to the exact reason on the privatisation because they already have a majority stake," said an analyst. "It's really up to Keppel Corp to show what else they can do to derive additional value."
Many saw the move as a defensive one to diversify the group's earnings at a time when the outlook for its offshore and marine division - which accounts for 55 per cent of its bottom line - is uncertain.......
......The decision to pump money into property, rather than into the offshore and marine sector where assets can now be picked up on the cheap, worried analysts, who wondered if it signalled a more bearish outlook for the sector than the company had let on.....
...Questions were also raised over what seemed to be a dilution of Keppel Corp's exposure to the rig-building business, the reason why many investors bought into the stock in the first place. Asked whether the investor base could now be diluted, Mr Loh said that Keppel Corp had been a conglomerate with a multi-business approach over the past few decades. "We have executed this strategy very well, we believe that this is one of the core tenets for Keppel . . . This transaction, if nothing else, (emphasises) that we believe in this approach that has served us so well."
http://btd.sg/15Eudfn
