THERE was a hint of sour grapes in Keppel Corp's response to news this past week that Temasek Holdings had decided to back out of its partial offer for the company by invoking a "material adverse change" (MAC) pre-condition.

"The partial offer was unsolicited," Keppel said in a statement on Aug 10. "Keppel did not negotiate the terms of the partial offer including the MAC pre-condition."

Keppel went on to remind everyone that it has a long-term strategy in place - dubbed Vision 2030 - as well as a strong balance sheet and the support of a network of banks to finance its operations and long-term growth initiatives.