Delong suspends trading after close of CEO's privatisation offer

STEELMAKER Delong Holdings has requested to suspend the trading of its shares with effect from 9am on Wednesday.

This comes after Delong chief executive officer Ding Liguo's revived offer for the mainboard-listed company closed on Tuesday evening, with the offeror and concert parties owning 98.75 per cent of the total number of shares.

In July, Mr Ding relaunched his voluntary cash offer to take Delong private at S$7 per share via his vehicle Best Grace Holdings, after an aborted privatisation attempt at the same price last September that breached Singapore's takeover code.

The appointed independent financial adviser (IFA) PricewaterhouseCoopers Corporate Finance said last month that the offer was "not fair but reasonable". Delong's independent directors recommended that shareholders accept the offer.

The new delisting rules by the Singapore Exchange (SGX) do not apply in Delong's case, as the offeror will end up holding 100 per cent of the company's issued shares after the compulsory acquisition. SGX changed its rules in July, requiring voluntary delisting offers (including scheme of arrangements and general offers) to be both "fair" and "reasonable" in the IFA's opinion.

Shares of Delong were flat at S$6.98 at Tuesday's close.