Great Eastern Holdings has allotted and issued 29,711,041 bonus ordinary shares and 443,608,028 Class C non-voting shares to entitled shareholders, ahead of the resumption of its trading on Aug 21 at 9am.
During an extraordinary ordinary meeting (EGM) on July 8, less than 75% of minority shareholders voted for delisting. That led to more than 90% of all the shareholders, including major shareholder Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp (OCBC), voting to change the constitution of GEH to enable it to issue Class C shares which do not carry voting rights.
OCBC gave an undertaking to vote in favour of a constitutional change that would enable GEH to issue Class C shares and bonus issue shares. Minority shareholders were given a choice of whether to elect to receive a one-for-one bonus issue or the Class C shares. OCBC had committed to elect Class C shares.
On Aug 14, GEH announced that minority shareholders owning 29.7 million shares have elected to receive the bonus issue, and shareholders owning 5,423 shares voted to receive the Class C shares.
As a result, OCBC’s stake in GEH will be diluted to 88.19% from 93.7%, thus restoring GEH’s free float. Following the bonus issue, the company will have an enlarged share base due to the one-for-one bonus issue of new ordinary shares and Class C Non-Voting Shares. For example, shareholders who previously held 1,000 shares will hold 2,000 shares as at 21 August 2025.
Following the allotment and issuance of the bonus ordinary shares and Class C non-voting shares, the total number of issued shares of the Great Eastern has increased from 473,319,069 shares to 503,030,110 shares and 443,608,028 Class C non-voting shares.
See also: Great Eastern at 5-year high on trading resumption on Aug 21
The bonus ordinary shares will rank pari passu in all respects with the existing shares and with each other, while the Class-C non- voting shares will rank pari passu with the shares in all respects save from a few conditions.
