SK Jewellery suspends trading after close of privatisation offer

SK Jewellery Group on Monday requested a suspension in the trading of its shares with effect from 9am on the same day.

This came after the voluntary cash offer for the Catalist-listed jeweller closed on Oct 16, with the offeror receiving valid acceptances representing about 97.8 per cent of the total number of issued shares.

The founders of SK Jewellery, through investment holding company OroGreen Investment, had in September launched an offer of S$0.15 per share for all the issued and paid-up ordinary shares in SK Jewellery to take it private.

With the close of the offer that saw valid acceptances of over 90 per cent, the offeror is entitled to and intends to compulsorily acquire all the shares of shareholders who have not accepted the offer at the same offer price.

The company on Sept 28 said it had lost its public float after the percentage of shares held by the public as at 9pm on Sept 26 fell to 6.46 per cent - less than the requisite 10 per cent under the free float requirement.

SK Jewellery also said at the time that the offeror has no intention to undertake or support any action to lift any trading suspension by the Singapore Exchange.

SK Jewellery's shares last traded at 15.5 Singapore cents on Oct 8.