UOL launches GO for UIC at S$1.20

Uncle Wee has gone on the offensive with a takeover bid for UIC at S$1.20. Technically speaking this is GO. But frankly speaking, it seems more like a shift of assets. UOB owns 9.9% of UIC while Haw Par owns 5%. I believe they will accept the offer by UOL. The interesting bit is whether Morgan Stanley who has a block of 11% UIC shares will team up with Gokongwei to stage a counterbid or not? Will we see an interesting drama unfolds? :laugh: :laugh:

Wah, Uncle G bought the shares so expensive in 2005... If not wrong, he bought around S$3.50. Why would he let go now? This is nothing more than a technial exercise by Wee to strengthen his control of the Company

I remember 2004, Temasek shocked the market when it launched a take over for UOL... That time, it was Temasek vs Wee... Wee won that time. Now it is Wee vs Go, will Temasek come out and help Go? :laugh: :laugh: 11/05/2004 07:53 SINGAPORE (Dow Jones)--Singapore\'s United Overseas Bank Ltd. (U11.SG) late Monday hinted it would reject an offer by state investment company Temasek Holdings Pte. Ltd. to buy its 49% stake in property arm United Overseas Land Ltd. (U14.SG). In a statement sent out around 11 p.m. local time (1500 GMT) Monday, the local bank said: \"UOB regrets that Tazwell (the Temasek vehicle making the bid) has not agreed to its request for an extension and Tazwell\'s offer will duly lapse at the appointed time. UOB and its financial adviser will continue to explore all options in relation to its shareholdings in United Overseas Land Ltd.\" UOB\'s statement came an hour after Temasek said it won\'t extend a Tuesday deadline for UOB to accept its offer to buy UOL. \"We are not extending the offer because we don\'t believe it\'s in our commercial interest to do so,\" Temasek spokeswoman Eva Ho told Dow Jones Newswires, two days after UOB asked for a month\'s extension. Last Tuesday, Temasek offered to buy UOB\'s 48.9% stake in UOL for S$2.05 (US$1=S$1.7243) a share, with one week for Singapore\'s No. 2 lender by assets to respond. The offer closes at 0900 GMT Tuesday. UOB had wanted the offer to be extended to June 11. Before Temasek offered to buy UOB\'s stake, UOB had offered on April 26 to sell up to 36.9% of its stake in UOL to the bank\'s shareholders at S$1.58 a share. UOB said it was making the preferential share offer after considering all options. But following the Temasek offer, UOB decided to scrap its own preferential share offer. -By Kevin Lim, Dow Jones Newswires; 65-64154156; kevin.lim@dowjones.com -Edited by Mary de Wet

My humble opinion, much will depend on whether Gokongwei plays the cards. If Gokongwei does not put in a bid, then UOB and Haw Par have a legitimate reason to sell to UOL. If you trace the history of UOL. Wee Cho Yaw has a track record of buying UOL shares. In April 2008, he bought 400,000 UOL shares at $3.92. In Nov 2007, he bought 1 million shares at a higher price of $5.048. So on hindsight, it does seem very clear now that UOL has all along been his chosen vehicle for consolidating his property investments. However, I feel Gokongwei will not let Wee have his way without a fight. He can probably come in and jeopardize the takeover by putting in a higher bid, probably 5-10% higher. He will do better if he collaborate with Morgan Stanley to take out their 11% stake in UOL. But he has to do better than the previous offer that he made. So we retail investors can probably buy a bit, sit back and watch the fun. At the same time, make some kopi money. :laugh: :laugh:

you so sure that gokongwei will come in to bid higher? how much money does gokongwei have now? How is his biz in philipines doing ??

I think Wee and Gokongwei are not friends. Gokongwei already knows that Wee has big stakes in UIC. Yet, over the past few months, Gokongwei has been steadily increasing his stake in UIC. He can only buy 1% in six months, to avoid breaching the takeove rule. Then, we also see Morgan Stanley increasing their stake too... This Morgan Stanley to me, is another cunning businessman. They keep increasing their stake in UIC. Once the day, one party makes the move, Morgan Stanley will offer its stake to the highest bidder. Imagine Gokongwei 35%, Morgan Stanley 11%... All you need is a proxy with 5%, and you have 51% !!!! I think Wee must be getting worried. That\'s why showhand today.