Great Eastern Holdings announced it will resume trading at 9am on Aug 21, subject to the Singapore Exchange's (SGX) approval. 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. GEH will be requesting for lifting of the suspension and the resumption of trading of its shares from the SGX.
Once GEH starts trading, anyone can buy GEH shares, including OCBC. The last traded price of GEH before its suspension in July 2024 was $25.80. The free float will be small, at below 12%. It remains to be seen what Palliser, the hedge fund with more than a million GEH shares, will do next. Some market observers reckon the fund could place it out to a third party or even OCBC.
