Citic's Biosensors talks 'very preliminary'

THE market kept Biosensors International Group on takeover watch yesterday even as it surfaced that talks, if any, about a privatisation bid for the medical device maker were at best "very preliminary".

The stock of Biosensors, which on Tuesday shot up 14 per cent to 99.5 cents on takeover speculation, eased just 2.5 per cent, or 2.5 cents, yesterday to close at 97 cents after trading resumed at 9.45am. Trading was halted since Tuesday afternoon pending Biosensors' response to a Singapore Exchange query on the unusual stock price movement.

One trader said: "If you were to look at the price movement, the pullback was not that sharp. I think to a certain extent the market still believes that the M&A (merger and acquisition) angle is still around the corner. It's just a matter of time."