Keppel Land to raise shareholding in Nam Long Investment Corporation

KEPPEL Land (Keppel Land), through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Ibeworth, has entered into an agreement with third party investors to divest 51 per cent of its  500 billion Vietnamese dong (about S$29.4 million) convertible bonds issued by housing developer Nam Long Investment Corporation (NLG) for 393 billion dong.

The divestment will "create sufficient headroom in NLG for Keppel Land to convert the remaining 49 per cent of the bonds that the company holds into shares, as NLG has a foreign shareholding limit of 49 per cent", it said. Upon completion of the statutory procedures of the bond conversion by end-2018, Keppel Land will become the second largest shareholder of NLG, doubling its shareholding to 10 per cent.

The partial divestment and conversion of the bonds will allow Keppel Land to recognise a gain of about S$17.5 million.  Concurrently, Keppel Land through its wholly-owned subsidiary, Portsville, has entered into a conditional agreement, to divest a 70 per cent interest in Dong Nai Waterfront Cityto NLG, for a total consideration of 2,683 billion dong. Keppel Land will continue to hold a 30 per cent interest in Dong Nai which is developing a 170-hectare township in the Dong Nai Province.  When fully developed, the township can potentially yield about 7,850 homes comprising terraces, villas and mid-rise apartments, as well as 1.4 million square feet of commercial space.