BlackRock holds 51m, 3.3% of KepLand shares

KEPPEL Corporation, via its financial advisers DBS Bank and Credit Suisse (Singapore), on Tuesday announced that its associate BlackRock Inc now holds some 51 million shares in Keppel Land (KepLand), up from 50.8 million shares announced on Monday.

BlackRock's latest shareholding represents about 3.3 per cent of the total issued shares in KepLand, a percentage shareholding computed based on a total of 1.55 billion issued shares as at Feb 5, said Keppel Corp.

BlackRock is an associate of Keppel Corp by virtue of the fact that it holds 5 per cent or more of Keppel Corp shares. As such, BlackRock is required to disclose its dealings in shares during the offer period.

Keppel Corp had on Jan 23 launched an offer to take its real estate subsidiary KepLand private at a base offer price of S$4.38 per share. This will be raised to S$4.60 per share if acceptance levels exceed the 90 per cent threshold that turns the offer into a compulsory acquisition.

KepLand last week said it has appointed KPMG Corporate Finance as the independent financial adviser to advise its independent company directors on the offer by Keppel Corp.

On Monday, KepLand announced its first London investment in about two decades, with the £91 million (S$188 million) purchase of a nine-storey freehold office block at 75 King William Street.