Temasek secures majority control of NOL

Temasek secures majority control of NOL    Singapore government agency Temasek secured a majority shareholding in Neptune Orient Lines Wednesday, raising the likelihood it will try to delist the shipping and logistics group from the Singapore stock exchange.
   Temasek, whose S$2.8 billion ($1.6 billion) takeover bid for NOL was launched Aug. 3, increased its shareholding in the company to 53.61 percent, from 41.2 percent.
   Having bought more than 50 percent of the stock of NOL, Temasek has also declared its takeover bid “unconditional.” It announced a new closing date for the offer of Sept. 29, described as the final closing date.
   Reuters reported Thursday that analysts expect more stockholders to accept the Temasek offer in the next two weeks.
   The changed ownership of NOL, parent company of APL and APL Logistics, should result in APL being treated by U.S. authorities as a controlled carrier. The Ocean Shipping Reform Act of 1998 specifies that if “a majority portion of the interest in the carrier is owned or controlled in any manner by (a) government, by any agency thereof, or by any public or private person controlled by that government,” then it is deemed to be a controlled carrier.