Sembmarine-Keppel O&M merger clears up a S$500 million mystery

SHAREHOLDERS of Sembcorp Marine will probably have mixed feelings about the company’s much-awaited merger with the offshore and marine arm of Keppel Corp announced on Apr 27 (Wednesday).

The combined entity will naturally be much larger and have superior growth prospects. Yet, shareholders of Sembmarine who supported the company’s deeply-discounted rights issues over the last 2 years may well wonder if it was all worth it.

In a nutshell, shareholders of Sembmarine will swap their 31.4 billion shares for new shares in the combined entity on a 1-for-1 basis. The combined entity – which will assume the listing status of Sembmarine – will then issue 39.9 billion shares priced at S$0.122 each to acquire Keppel Offshore & Marine (Keppel O&M).