Great Eastern Holdings Ltd is set to resume trading on the Singapore Exchange following the failure of its delisting proposal, which lacked sufficient support from minority shareholders despite backing from majority owner Oversea-Chinese Banking Corporation (OCBC).
According to a company filing issued after its Extraordinary General Meeting, approximately 63.5% of minority shareholders voted in favour of the proposal. However, this fell short of the required threshold to proceed with taking the insurer private. As a result, OCBC’s S$900 million (US$704 million) offer has lapsed, the lender confirmed in a separate statement.
The outcome marks a significant setback for OCBC, Singapore’s second-largest bank, which has owned a majority stake in Great Eastern since 2004 and has made repeated attempts to acquire full ownership of the 117-year-old insurer. The bank had positioned full ownership as a strategic move to deepen the integration of its banking, wealth management, and insurance operations in order to enhance shareholder returns.
OCBC’s most recent offer of S$30.15 per share—an increase of 17.8% from its previous bid—targeted the remaining 6.28% of Great Eastern shares not already held by the bank. Despite the improved terms, the bid still fell short of Great Eastern’s 2024 embedded value of S$38.08 per share, a figure cited by dissenting minority shareholders who had been advocating for a higher valuation.
Great Eastern is among the largest insurers in both Singapore and Malaysia, managing more than S$100 billion in assets and serving over 16 million policyholders. Its shares had been suspended from trading since July 2024, following the failure of OCBC’s earlier attempt to reach the compulsory acquisition threshold.
To comply with listing requirements, Great Eastern will now proceed with issuing new shares, which will reduce OCBC’s ownership from approximately 94% to around 88%. No timeline has been provided for the resumption of trading.
Despite the failed delisting, analysts suggest that the impact on OCBC’s strategic position remains limited. “Whether OCBC owns 94% or 100%, it has a minimal impact on earnings or strategy as they are already in control,” said Jayden Vantarakis, Head of Equity Research for South-East Asia at Macquarie Capital.
Over the past decade, Great Eastern has contributed an average of S$700 million annually to OCBC’s net profit, accounting for roughly 15% of the bank’s yearly earnings. Following the announcement, OCBC shares closed 0.8% higher, outperforming the Straits Times Index, which rose 0.4%.
-Bloomberg
