SINGAPORE – Thailand’s richest man Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi is poised to start examining the finances of United Engineers Ltd, people with knowledge of the matter said, laying the groundwork for a potential acquisition of the Singapore property and construction company.
Mr Charoen's TCC Top Enterprise Ltd plans to begin due diligence on United Engineers and its WBL Corp unit next week, the people said, asking not to be named as the process is private. Exclusive talks with minority shareholder Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp and its insurance arm will expire six weeks after due diligence starts, according to an August filing.
Billionaire Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi, chairman of Thai Beverage Pcl, speaks with guests as he attends a charity event in Bangkok Wednesday. (Bloomberg photo)
OCBC, its Great Eastern Holdings Ltd unit and the bank's founding Lee family own a combined 34.1% stake in United Engineers, according to a filing in August last year. Under Singapore rules, buying more than 30% would trigger a mandatory takeover offer for United Engineers, which has a market capitalization of S$1.83 billion ($1.4 billion).
Representatives for TCC, OCBC and United Engineers declined to comment or weren't immediately available.
Shares in United Engineers have jumped 26 percent since Aug. 21, when news broke about Mr Charoen's talks to buy OCBC's stake in the company. They have traded at an average S$2.84 since Aug. 22, the day after OCBC disclosed the discussions.
United Engineers has been divesting assets after buying Singapore-based builder WBL Corp last year for $725 million including debt. It reached a deal in October to sell a majority stake in an engineering and construction business, UE E&C Ltd, for S$230 million. In August, United Engineers agreed to sell its car-dealership unit to Malaysia's Samling Group for S$455 million and its MFS Technology business for S$124 million.