GIC, Temasek & MAS 01 (May 08 - Aug 09)

[ishak]

Temasek's on track with genco sales
BT 06 Sep 2008

THE first was sold to the Chinese, and the second has just gone to a Japanese/French group. Temasek Holdings' divestment of the three biggest generating companies (gencos) here, aimed at injecting greater competition in the power market, is well on track.

Temasek announced yesterday that Senoko Power, Singapore's largest power station with 3,300 megawatts, has been sold for about $4 billion to the Lion Power consortium that includes French power and water utility giant GDF Suez and comprises four Japanese companies, led by Marubeni Corp.

The 'enterprise value' of about $4 billion comprises a cash consideration of $3.65 billion plus $323 million of net debt of Senoko Power as at March 31, 2008, which Lion will assume, it added.

The five-member Lion Power consortium comprises Marubeni, GDF Suez (with reportedly a 30 per cent stake), Kansai Electric Power Company, Kyushu Electric and Japan Bank for International Cooperation.

The price which Senoko fetched is slightly lower than the $4.235 billion paid in March by China Huaneng Group for the 2,670 MW Tuas Power - the newest, but smallest of the three gencos. On a straight per megawatt basis, the latest Senoko sale works out to be about 30 per cent cheaper than Tuas's.

Still, with two gencos sold in just 11 months Temasek is well within its target of mid-2009 to complete the entire divestment exercise. Only PowerSeraya, the second largest power station here with 3,100 MW capacity, remains.

Gwendel Tung, Temasek's director of investment, said that 'Lion Power's proposal was the most attractive in terms of price and commercial terms among a field of highly reputable investors'. She added: 'With the accelerated timeline and expeditious completion of this transaction, we are well-positioned to conclude our genco divestment plan on schedule.'

Chihiro Shikama, Marubeni Corp's executive officer, said: 'This sizeable investment is a significant vote of confidence in the Singapore economy and energy sector.'

Lion strongly supports Senoko Power's environmental leadership and has committed significant additional investment to construct new, more-efficient gas-fired units, he added.

Senoko Power supplies about 30 per cent of total electricity needs here. For the year ended March 2008, the company reported revenue of $2.495 billion and Ebitda (earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation) of $245 million.

[winston]

Li & Fung share sale to Temasek unit raises $3.9b
Alfred Liu

Li & Fung (0494), a Hong Kong-based consumer goods exporter, said it will raise HK$3.9 billion to finance acquisitions by selling 168 million new shares at HK$23.09 each to a subsidiary of Temasek Holdings.

The subscription shares amounted to 4.62 percent of Li & Fung's enlarged share capital and 4.85 percent of its existing issued share capital as of yesterday.

The subscription price is at a 2.39 percent premium to last Friday's closing price of HK$22.55 per share, down 2.38 percent from the previous day.

Dunearn Investments, a wholly owned subsidiary of Singaporean state investment company Temasek, undertakes not to sell the shares for one year.

"We have no doubt that this strategic investment by Temasek will be of benefit to Li & Fung's activities in Asia and will further enable us to take advantage of any acquisition opportunities that may arise in this economic environment," said William Fung Kwok-lun, group managing director of Li & Fung.

Temasek and subsidiaries including Dunearn will hold 180.6 million shares, or 4.97 percent after the subscription.

Li & Fung last month reported worse-than-expected first-quarter net profit growth of 18 percent to HK$1.24 billion, and key brokerages cut the company's target price as a result.

Credit Suisse slashed its Li & Fung target price to HK$26.94, from HK$31.38, following a slowdown in US consumption. Morgan Stanley cut its target to HK$36 from HK$39, due to heightened market risks.

Li & Fung last month announced its takeover of New York-based handbag importer Van Zeeland for US$330 million (HK$2.58 billion).

[millionairemind]

Published September 8, 2008
Temasek to pay HK$3.9b for stake in HK's Li & Fung
168m new shares priced at HK$23.09 each is about 4.8% of existing capital
By NISHA RAMCHANDANI

(SINGAPORE) Temasek Holdings last night said it will invest HK$3.9 billion (S$717 million) in Hong Kong-based consumer goods exporter Li & Fung Limited.

The investment is done through the Singapore investment company's wholly owned subsidiary Dunearn Investments (Mauritius), which has entered into a subscription agreement with Li & Fung.

Listed on the Hong Kong stock exchange, Li & Fung is the export trading arm of the Li & Fung Group. The group has three distinct core businesses - exporting, distribution and retailing. It was founded in 1906 by Fung Pak-liu and Li To-ming.

The agreement will see the subscription of 168 million new Li & Fung shares - 4.85 per cent of the company's existing issued share capital - at a price of HK$23.09 per share.

The price represents the average closing price for the last five trading days, up to and including Sept 5. Li & Fung, whose share prices hit a high of HK$39.50 on Oct 30 last year, has a market capitalisation of about HK$78.12 billion.

The proceeds will mainly 'be used for funding acquisitions' by the company and its subsidiaries from time to time, Li & Fung said in a statement.

William K Fung, group managing director of Li & Fung, said: 'We are very pleased to have Temasek as one of our strategic shareholders in view of its long-term approach to this investment. This strategic investment will be of benefit to Li & Fung's activities in Asia and will further enable us to take advantage of any acquisition opportunities that may arise in this economic environment.'

Under the agreement, Temasek will not dispose of the shares for a period of 12 months from completion.

As part of its growth strategy, Li & Fung has set in place a three-year plan (2008-2010) to identify opportunities for growth. The strategy includes vertical and geographical diversification to tap new sourcing markets across the globe.

Li & Fung has also increased its onshore business in the United States and Europe as well as branched out into new product segments such as health, beauty and cosmetics.

Li & Fung, which exports goods such as garments, toys and home furnishings, has more than 80 offices worldwide.

'With its robust business model and impressive leadership and management, we believe the company has excellent potential,' said David Heng, managing director of Investment for Temasek Holdings.

For the half year ended June 30, Li & Fung posted an 18 per cent increase year on year in net profit to HK$1.24 billion. Turnover grew 25 per cent to HK$47.39 billion, while earnings per share were 36 HK cents compared with 30.8 HK cents for 2007.

[ishak]

GIC in talks to buy stake in Kookmin Bank
Sumitomo Mitsui also eyeing US$4b share sale
Reuters, 09 Sep 2008

The Government of Singapore Investment Corp and Japan's Sumitomo Mitsui are in talks to buy shares worth about US$4 billion in Kookmin Bank as part of the South Korean bank's restructuring, a newspaper reported yesterday.

The prospective sale would be part of Kookmin's efforts to improve its capital base and in line with a government move to boost foreign currency liquidity, Jun Kwang-woo, chairman of South Korea's Financial Services Commission, said.

Foreign investment would also be sought in stake sales of other Korean companies, including Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering, Mr Jun said.

Kookmin, the country's top retail lender, plans to convert into a holding company structure on Sept 29, a move which is expected to boost non-banking operations such as brokerage, insurance and consumer finance.

Citing industry sources, the Korea Economic Daily reported that Government of Singapore Investment Corp (GIC) and Sumitomo Mitsui were each tipped to acquire a 3-4 per cent stake in Kookmin's holding company.

Mr Jun did not comment on potential buyers of the Kookmin shares.

'Kookmin has pumped 4 trillion won (S$5.3 billion) into the conversion process and its treasury stock will reach 20 per cent (of its total equity capital),' Mr Jun told reporters in a briefing.

'It should lift its (Bank for International Settlements) capital ratio by selling those shares soon. In the process, an appropriate level of foreign capital can flow in,' he said.

A 20 per cent stake in Kookmin's holding company would represent 71.3 million shares and could be valued at 4.3 trillion won, based on banking arm's current market price.

Kookmin spokesman Choi In-seok said the bank was in the stage of looking for strategic buyers of shares created after buybacks and the holding company establishment, but could not disclose anything for now.

Hwang Young-key, who chairs Kookmin's holding group, was quoted by the daily as saying that some of the shares in itself would be sold to strategic or financial investors within this year.

Under domestic laws, Kookmin has to dispose of its shares owned by itself within the next three years.

GIC could not be reached for comment.

Separately, Mr Jun said foreign investors would be allowed to take a stake in Daewoo Shipbuilding and other domestic firms to be put up for sale by creditor banks and the government.

The move signalled a change of tack in the government stand as the August invitation to the auction of 50.4 per cent in Daewoo indicated foreign bidders might be ruled out because of the world's No 3 shipyard's defence-related technologies.

[-dol-]

I can hear the "ka-ching" sound ringing ever so loudly at the ERP tills...

When GIC/Temasek go shopping, we break into cold sweat...

[millionairemind]

dol,

Both you and I don't drive... maybe they will start implementing "HUMAN ERP" soon to get ppe. like us, like the advert I saw on TV...

mm

[-dol-]

MM

They whack us on the public transport and other things - we are their captive lambs for the slaughter. Anyone calculated how many cents to the $ you spend here eventually ended up in their coffers? (They say every 10 cts to the HK$ spent in HK goes into KS Li's pocket). They always win in Singapore. A different story when they go overseas.

[winston]

Temasek May Reap $1.5 Billion Gain From Merrill Lynch Takeover
By Chen Shiyin

Sept. 15 (Bloomberg) -- Temasek Holdings Pte., the biggest shareholder of Merrill Lynch & Co., may reap gains of $1.5 billion from the sale of the third-biggest U.S. securities firm to Bank of America Corp.

The biggest U.S. consumer bank said today it agreed to buy Merrill for $50 billion in stock, or $29 a share. The Singapore sovereign wealth fund paid $5.9 billion since December for about 14 percent of Merrill at an average price of $23.11 a share, based on Bloomberg calculations from exchange filings.

Bank of America's purchase price is 70 percent more than Merrill's closing price of $17.05 in New York trading on Sept. 12. The shares fell 68 percent this year, after the company reported writedowns and credit losses of more than $52 billion, the second-most among the world's largest banks and securities firms, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

``It's a huge premium and I expect that there's been some discussion behind closed doors to come up with a price that is justifiable and that everyone is happy with, including Temasek,'' said Daphne Roth, Singapore-based head of equity research in Asia at ABN Amro Private Bank, which manages about $30 billion of regional assets.

Bank of America's purchase will help ensure that 94-year- old Merrill, which employs the largest U.S. brokerage force and owns about half of New York-based BlackRock Inc., won't become the next casualty of the global credit crisis. So far, Merrill has suffered $19 billion in net losses tied to mortgages.

`Premature'

Temasek, which manages more than $130 billion, first paid $5 billion between December and February for about 10 percent of Merrill at $48 a share.

The Singapore company said on July 29 it will invest a further $900 million in the securities firm, after receiving a $2.5 billion so-called reset payment for losses from its earlier purchase. The sum was used to pay for $3.4 billion of Merrill stock at $22.50 a share, according to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

``It is premature for Temasek to comment,'' the Singapore company said in an e-mailed statement today.

Other key investors who took stakes in the New York-based brokerage may also join Temasek in reporting gains from their investments.

Korea Investment Corp., one of at least six investment funds that bought a combined $6.6 billion of convertible preferred shares from Merrill in January, said in a statement on July 29 that it converted 72 million Merrill shares at $27.50 apiece.

Korea Investment's Gains

The sale of Merrill to Bank of America will net the Seoul- based fund profits of about $108 million, according to Bloomberg calculations. An official at the sovereign wealth fund declined to comment today.

Kuwait Investment Authority, a fund that manages the Middle Eastern emirate's wealth, held a 6 percent stake, or about 73.9 million shares, in Merrill after converting $2 billion of convertible preferred stock, according to an Aug. 6 regulatory filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. An official couldn't immediately be reached in his office and didn't respond to a e-mailed query.

Davis Selected Advisors LP, a closely held money manager, and Mizuho Financial Group Inc., Japan's third-largest publicly traded bank by market value, were among other investors who bought stakes in Merrill.

[HengHeng]

dunno how much they goingto lose for Citi , UBS and barclays

[kennynah]

lucky barclays never end up buying leh...else their stock price will kana hammer jialat jialat...