Temasek completes takeover bid for NOL

Temasek completes takeover bid for NOL    Temasek Holdings, a Singapore government agency, Wednesday closed its bid for Neptune Orient Lines (NOL) and secured 68.6 percent of the capital of the shipping and logistics company.
   Originally a minority shareholder, Temasek launched a bid to buy the shares of Neptune Orient Lines it did not already own on Aug. 3. NOL is the parent company of APL and APL Logistics.
   NOL notified the Singapore stock exchange that Temasek acquired a 4.58 percent increased shareholding in the company Wednesday through acceptance of its bid, suggesting that the majority of other shareholders did not accept the government agency’s bid.
   However, Temasek has repeatedly bought shares in NOL in the open market in recent weeks, apparently at a price higher than the bid price of S$2.80 ($1.60) per share. The open market purchases alone raised Temasek’s shareholding from about 30 percent in August to more than 50 percent in mid-September.
   “The value of that transaction was S$1.57 billion ($930 million),” said Rachel Lin, spokesman for Temasek in Singapore.
   NOL is considered a government-controlled carrier by U.S. authorities under the Shipping Act. On Sept. 23, the U.S. Federal Maritime Commission said APL had applied for an exemption from a restriction on amendments of tariffs that applies to controlled carriers.
   NOL’s share rose 2.2 percent to S$2.82 today on the Singapore stock exchange.