Singapore Corporate News - 22 Dec 2007

5 contracts for Beauty China worth HK$7m

BEAUTY China says it has acquired five new OEM customers in contracts worth a total of HK$7 million (S$1.31 million). The revenues will mostly be recognised in Q1 2008, when the products are scheduled to be delivered.

KS Energy in US$37m Mid-East land rig deal

(SINGAPORE) Singapore oil equipment supplier KS Energy said yesterday that it had clinched a US$37 million contract to supply and manage a land rig in the Middle East. The company said in a statement that the contract is for three years, and will start contributing positively to the firm next year.

Sinwa buys land Down Under for warehouse

SINWA says its subsidiary, Sinwa Holdings (Australia), has acquired 11,543 square metres of land in Henderson, in Western Australia for A$2.78 million (S$3.49 million), on which it will build warehousing facilities to offer storage, distribution and logistics services to support expansion in Australia.

Yoma in 84.2m yuan China property deal

YOMA Strategic Holdings will acquire more than a quarter of an office-cum-retail property in Dalian, China, for 84.2 million yuan (S$16.6 million), following shareholders' approval at an extraordinary general meeting yesterday.

Shareholders also approved the issue of call options for 60 million shares - which if exercised would represent over 12 per cent of Yoma - to Hong Kong-based Gateway Capital Real Estate Fund II.

Yangzijiang clinches US$1.36b boxship deal

MAINBOARD-LISTED Chinese shipbuilder Yangzijiang Shipbuilding yesterday announced a whopper of a deal to build 20 container ships including options for four ships for Cosco Container Lines (CCL) worth US$1.36 billion.

Yanzijiang's subsidiary Jiangsu New Yangzi Shipbuilding is scheduled to deliver the 4,250 twenty-foot equivalent (TEU) container ships between August 2011 and June 2012.

Compact Metal proposes $100m contract with ASP

COMPACT Metal Industries yesterday said it has proposed a $100 million contract to supply ASP Aluminium Holdings in Australia with aluminium extrusion products for five years.

In a memorandum of understanding, Compact also proposes that it grant ASP an option to buy 60 per cent of Compact subsidiary Cakra Compact Aluminium Industries, and that Compact potentially grant ASP an option to buy 350 million new ordinary Compact shares at five cents apiece.

Wilmar-Olam venture ups stake in palm oil firm

NAUVU Investments, a 50:50 joint venture company between Wilmar International Limited and Olam International Limited, will acquire an additional 10 per cent stake in Palm-CI from SIFCA Group for about US$17.2 million.

This comes on the heels of SIFCA's purchase of the 10 per cent share in Palm-CI from the government of Cote d'Ivoire.

The acquisition will raise Nauvu's interest in Palm-CI, SIFCA's oil palm plantation and crude palm oil producer, from the current 16.7 per cent to 26.7 per cent, bringing the total investment of Nauvu in palm oil, natural rubber and sugar assets in Africa to US$226.2 million.

Dubai Drydocks receives 91% takeup for Labroy

Dubai Drydocks World yesterday said that it has received acceptances for over 91 per cent of shares in Singapore shipbuilder Labroy Marine, paving the way for Labroy to be taken private. The state-owned Middle East firm had in October offered to buy Labroy for around US$1.63 billion or S$2.8425 per share.

STX Pan Ocean to buy back 15m shares

STX Pan Ocean Co, South Korea's biggest carrier of bulk cargo, says it will buy back 15 million shares for 29.1 billion won (S$45 million). The Seoul-based sea carrier's board approved the plan to purchase the shares to boost shareholder value and to use them for bonuses for employees, STX Pan Ocean said in a regulatory filing yesterday. It will purchase the shares from Dec 25 to March 24 next year, the filing said.

The company will buy back 2.55 million shares on the Korean exchange and the remainder from the Singapore Exchange, the filing said.