Oxley raises UE stake to 14.1% at S$2.72 per share with S$2.60 offer still open

PROPERTY developer Oxley Holdings has further raised its stake in United Engineers (UE) to 14.1 per cent after acquiring S$1.4 million of shares on the open market on Tuesday and Wednesday, according to mandatory disclosures to the Singapore Exchange.

The 5.3 million shares, which form about 0.07 per cent of UE's issued shares, were bought at S$2.72 apiece. Oxley deputy chief executive Low See Ching also directly holds an additional 1.02 per cent stake in UE.

The purchase price is a 4.6 per cent premium to the S$2.60 per share cash offer for UE that has been made by a consortium led by Perenial Real Estate Holdings and Yanlord Land Group.

The consortium's offer, which will turn unconditional only if the offer gains control of at least 50 per cent of UE shares, will expire at the business close of Sept 19. As of end-Sept 11, the consortium controlled and had received acceptances amounting to 34.79 per cent of UE's outstanding shares.

The consortium has said that it plans to keep United Engineers listed.