Keppel, SPH JV firm says no increase in offer price for M1 shares; extends offer closing date

KEPPEL Corp and Singapore Press Holdings (SPH) joint venture (JV) company, Konnectivity, has announced that there will be no increase in its offer price of S$2.06 per M1 share they do not already own, and extended the closing date of its offer by at least two weeks.

In a regulatory filing on Tuesday morning, the JV company which is majority owned by Keppel, said it does not intend to increase the offer price "under any circumstances whatsoever".

It added that the closing date for the offer has been extended from 5.30pm on Feb 4 to Feb 18, or a later date that may be announced.

As at market close on Jan 21, the total number of shares owned, controlled or agreed to be acquired by Konnectivity and its concert parties amount to about 318 million shares, representing about 34.4 per cent of the total number of shares in M1.

On Monday, CLSA Singapore noted that the offer Keppel and SPH are making for M1 is "fair and reasonable and not prejudicial to the interests of shareholders as a whole".

"Accordingly, we advise the recommending directors to recommend that shareholders accept the offer, unless shareholders are able to obtain a price higher than the offer price on the open market, taking into account all brokerage commissions or transactions costs in connection with open market transactions," said the independent financial adviser to the independent directors of M1.

The offer price represents a 36 per cent premium over the lowest closing price of S$1.52 over the 52-week period before the last trading date prior to the offer, and a 25 per cent premium over equity research analysts' average target price of S$1.644.

M1 shares ended unchanged at S$2.07 on Monday.