CMA CGM Buys NOL Shares from Open Market, Below Par
CMA CGM SA has bought about 3.68 million shares of Singapore-based Neptune Orient Lines (NOL) on the open market at S$1.22 per share. The shares purchased make up 0.14 per cent of NOL's issued share capital, reports Straits Times.
The purchase price is at a 6 per cent discount to CMA CGM's offer to acquire all of NOL's issued and paid up shares at S$1.30 per share.
CMA CGM SA has already made a $2.4 billion takeover bid for NOL to try to cement its own position as a global leader in container shipping. The proposed cash acquisition, announced in a filing with the Singapore Exchange where NOL is listed, values it at around Sg$3.4 billion ($2.4 billion).
The total number of shares now owned, controlled or agreed to be acquired by CMA CGM is 10.8 million.
The acquisition will allow the privately owned CMA CGM, which plans to delist NOL, to "cement its position among the global leaders in the container shipping industry", said an NOL statement to the Singapore Exchange.
