Daily news - 5 Jun

Keppel Corp shares hit by Skeie news
Keppel Corporation – Shares of Keppel Corporation took a beating yesterday on news that one of its customers could be facing bankruptcy if a proposed restructuring fails to take off. Keppel shares dropped to as low as $6.90 in intra-day trading before ending at $7.08, but still 20 cents, or 2.75 per cent, down. More than 14 million shares changed hands. The customer, Skeie Drilling and Production (SKDP), currently has construction contracts for three N-Class jack-up offshore drilling rigs with Keppel Corp's subsidiary Keppel Fels, valued at about $1.7 billion in total. On Wednesday, Keppel Fels had said that it is supportive of and is participating in the restructuring exercise.

SingTel expected to top up Bharti stake if dilution occurs
Singapore Telecommunications' stake in Bharti Airtel could be slashed by up to 10 percentage points or more if the latter's merger with the MTN Group comes through but industry observers say the Singapore operator might be willing to pump in more money to make up for the dilution. According to a Financial Times report citing unnamed sources, SingTel can be expected to acquire some, or all, of the 11 per cent Bharti shareholding expected to be offloaded by MTN shareholders who do not want to end up with Bharti shares after the planned deal. If ongoing negotiations between Bharti and MTN bear fruit, the Indian operator will own a 49 per cent stake in its South African counterpart under a complex share-and-cash swap transaction valued at nearly US$23 billion. Bharti last week offered to pay 86 South African rand and 0.5 newly issued Bharti global depository receipts for each MTN share. In return, MTN will lay claim to 25 per cent of Bharti while its shareholders will own another 11 per cent.

Source: Kim Eng