THE closing date for the mandatory cash offer of Chip Eng Seng : C29 0% by chairman Celine Tang and her husband Gordon Tang has been further extended to 5.30 pm on Feb 16.

 

This marks the third extension for the offer&rsquo s close after it was previously extended on two occasions to Feb 2 and Jan 19, respectively.

 

As at 6 pm on Feb 1, the offeror has received valid acceptances amounting to 649.5 million shares, translating to about 82.7 per cent of the company.

 

This includes acceptances from the offeror&rsquo s concert parties, which amounts to about 386.4 million shares, representing about 49.21 per cent of the company.

 

The total number of shares now owned by the offeror and its concert parties, as well as the valid acceptances of the offer amount to 694.3 million shares, translating to about 88.41 of the company. 

 

The Tangs first launched the privatisation bid for Chip Eng Seng as a voluntary conditional cash offer on Nov 24, 2022 through their investment holding company, Tang Dynasty Treasure. The initial price of S$0.72 per share was later raised to S$0.75.

 

The offer was later declared unconditional in December after receiving acceptances of over 405.7 million shares or 51.73 per cent of the company as at Dec 14.

 

The mainboard-listed company issued a holding announcement on Sep 7, 2022, as Celine Tang was considering a possible transaction involving the group&rsquo s shares, as its non-executive chairman and non-independent and non-executive director.

 

As at that date, Tang Dynasty Treasure did not hold any shares, and the offerors&rsquo concert parties collectively owned or controlled about 325.2 million shares, representing about 41.41 per cent of the company.

 

TWO subsidiaries of Chip Eng Seng Corporation have been awarded a S$562 million contract from the Land Transport Authority (LTA) to design and construct the Elias station and tunnels under the Cross Island Line-Punggol Extension.

 

LTA said in a statement on Monday (Jan 30) that the contract has been awarded to CES_SDC-Chip Eng Seng Contractors (1988) joint venture. Both CES_SDC and Chip Eng Seng Contractors (1998) are indirect wholly-owned subsidiaries of Chip Eng Seng Corporation : C29 -0.66%.

 

LTA said that the contract completes the appointment of contractors for all four Cross Island Line-Punggol Extension stations.

 

Construction works for the Elias station and tunnels are expected to start in the second quarter of 2023, with passenger service targeted to commence in 2032.

 

The station is an underground station located along Pasir Ris Drive 3. The station will be built at a depth of about 40 m and will have five entrances, LTA said.

 

The Cross Island Line (CRL) is Singapore&rsquo s eighth Mass Rapid Transit line. It will serve existing and future developments in the eastern, north-eastern and western corridors, and links major hubs including Jurong Lake District, Punggol Digital District and Changi region.

 

The 7.3-kilometre Cross Island Line-Punggol Extension. will comprise four stations, namely Punggol, Riviera, Elias, and Pasir Ris.

SGX-ST Query 1:  We refer to the Business Times article (&ldquo BT Article&rdquo ) titled &ldquo Chip Eng Seng IFA&rsquo s &lsquo fair and reasonable&rsquo finding needs to consider factors that matter most&rdquo , which was published on 19 January 2023.

Kindly address the comments and provide details to elaborate on the IFA&rsquo s view that the offer price is fair and reasonable in the context of each of the issues raised about the IFA opinion in the BT Article, which had highlighted that the final offer from Tang Dynasty Treasure Pte Ltd (&ldquo CES Offer&rdquo ) of S$0.75 per share represented a steep 43.9 per cent discount to CES&rsquo s revalued net asset value (RNAV) per share and the implied P/RNAV ratio of 0.56 is below the mean and median corresponding ratios of the Private Property Transactions.