Stocks to watch: Keppel, Ara Logos, ESR-Reit, Keong Hong, Datapulse

THE following companies saw new developments that may affect trading of their securities on Monday (Jan 24):

Keppel Corporation: BN4The mainboard-listed conglomerate on Jan 22 announced that Keppel Land Vietnam Properties, Keppel Vietnam Fund (KVF) and a co-investor of KVF have agreed to acquire a 49 per cent interest in 3 residential land plots for an aggregate cash consideration of 2.7 trillion dong (S$159.7 million). Keppel Corp shares closed at S$5.38 on Jan 21, up by 1.3 per cent or S$0.07.

Ara Logos Logistics Trust, ESR-Reit : K2LUJ91UBoth real estate investment trusts (Reits) announced on Saturday that they have revised up the scheme consideration for their proposed merger to S$0.097 in cash and 1.7729 in ESR-Reit units for every Ara Logos unit, from S$0.095 in cash and 1.6765 in ESR-Reit units previously. The extraordinary general meeting and the scheme meeting to vote on the proposed merger have been deferred. Units of ESR-Reit had closed flat at S$0.47 on Friday, while Ara Logos units had gained S$0.005 or 0.6 per cent to close at S$0.90.

Keong Hong Holdings: 5TTThe property developer's shareholder LJHB Holdings has raised its stake in Keong Hong to 45.8 per cent from 26.7 per cent, it announced last Friday. As a result, LJHB will be making a mandatory conditional cash offer for all the shares it does not own at S$0.384 per share. Shares of Keong Hong last traded flat at S$0.37 before the company called for a trading halt last Friday morning. Shares will continue trading on Monday morning.

Datapulse Technology: BKWThe property investment company announced on Sunday that its executive director Lee Kam Seng has resigned and will step down on Mar 27. It has also appointed Lau Yin Whai as financial controller and company secretary. Shares of Datapulse closed flat at S$0.10 on Friday, before the announcement.

Trading halt: Catalist-listed investment holding company Metech International V3M has called for a trading halt on Monday morning, pending the release of an announcement. Shares of Metech last closed at S$0.186, down 25.6 per cent or S$0.064 on Friday.