Hot stocks: KepLand resumes trading, up 24% on Keppel Corp privatisation offer

SHARES of Keppel Corporation and Keppel Land (KepLand) opened higher on Monday, having resumed trading on Monday morning after the group announced a trading halt last Wednesday.

Shares of Keppel Corporation opened at S$8.28, up from its last trading price of S$8.10 on Tuesday. It rose by about 1.3 per cent to S$8.21 at 9.07am. About six million shares changed hands.

Shares of KepLand opened at S$4.52, up from its last trading price of S$3.65 on Tuesday. It rose by some 24 per cent to a high of S$4.54 before trading at about S$4.53 at 9.06am. About 14.7 million shares changed hands.

Keppel Corp, which owns 54.6 per cent of KepLand, on Friday launched an offer to take its subsidiary KepLand private, using a two-tier price approach in its bid for the remaining shares it does not own.

The base offer price is S$4.38, valuing KepLand at S$6.8 billion. This is a premium of 25 per cent over the one-month volume weighted average price of the shares.

If acceptance levels exceed the 90 per cent threshold, turning the offer into a compulsory acquisition, the offer price would be raised to S$4.60 per share - a 31 per cent premium over the one-month value weighted average price - and valuing KepLand at S$7.1 billion.

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