Stocks to watch: Noble, Frasers Centrepoint, SingPost, Logistics, First Sponsor, Cordlife, telcos

THE following stocks had announcements or developments that could affect trading activity on Thursday.

Noble Group: The long-running battle between the beleaguered commodities trader and its toughest critics has entered into its fifth month, with no end in sight. Noble CEO Yusuf Alireza and former Temasek Holdings executive Michael Dee sparred on Wednesday, each issuing their own statements to refute the other's claims.

Frasers Centrepoint Ltd (FCL): Its hospitality arm, Frasers Hospitality, has entered the upscale boutique hotel segment with its latest acquisition of Malmaison Hotel du Vin (MHDV) for £363.4 million (S$760 million) from an affiliate of KSL Capital Partners LLC.

Singapore Post: SingPost has acquired a 30 per cent stake in Australian e-commerce firm Hubbed Holdings for about A$4.3 million (S$4.44 million). The investment was made through indirect wholly-owned Quantium Solutions (Australia), which acquired 85,715 ordinary shares in Hubbed.

Logistics Holdings: It has secured a S$13.8 million contract from JTC Corporation through wholly-owned subsidiary Logistics Construction.

First Sponsor Group: It has completed its acquisition of two hotels - a Holiday Inn and a Holiday Inn Express - with 509 carpark lots in Amsterdam for 54.6 million euros (S$82.9 million). On April 28, 2015, First Sponsor announced that it had entered into a sale and purchase agreement with a German institutional real estate fund, IVG Institutional Funds, for the acquisition.

Cordlife Group: The Competition Commission of Singapore (CCS) has stopped its investigation into whether Cordlife's exclusive agreements with certain baby fair organisers and hospitals limit competition. CCS's competition concerns were addressed by Cordlife's "voluntary commitments in good faith not to rely on the exclusive arrangements that were the subject of the investigation".

M1, Singtel, StarHub: Singapore's telcos will see service monetisation opportunities arising from the planned closure of the country's 2G networks, according to a BMI Research report.