Yahoo Finance UPDATE 2-Great Eastern independent directors recommend OCBC $1 bln offer
*
Adviser recommended independent directors back the deal
*
Adviser also noted shareholders might want to sell in market
*
Great Eastern shares have been trading above OCBC offer
*
OCBC says its offer is final
(Adds Great Eastern's independent directors' concurrence with the advice in paragraph 3)
By Himanshi Akhand and Yantoultra Ngui
June 14 (Reuters) - The independent directors of Singapore's Great Eastern have been advised to recommended that minority shareholders accept a S$1.4 billion ($1.03 billion) offer from the insurer's top investor Oversea-Chinese Banking Corp (OCBC).
Ernst & Young, the financial adviser to the independent directors, said the terms of the offer were "reasonable" and advised them to recommend the deal, Great Eastern said in a statement.
Great Eastern's independent directors said they concurred with the adviser's assessment of the offer and advice, and recommended that shareholders accept OCBC offer.
OCBC, Singapore's second biggest lender, announced in May an offer to buy the 11.56% stake in Great Eastern that it does not own at S$25.60 per share, or a 37% premium over Great Eastern's last traded shares price before that announcement.
Ernst & Young noted that Great Eastern shares have been trading above the offer price and that shareholders might thus wish to sell their stock in the open market.
"This offer price is final," OCBC said on Friday. "The closing date of the offer is extended to 12 July 2024. OCBC does not intend to increase the offer price or further extend the closing date."
As of Thursday's close, OCBC said it had received acceptances for 1.74 million shares, or 0.37% of Great Eastern shares, raising its stake in Great Eastern to 89.01%.
Great Eastern shares ended Friday 0.27% lower at S$26.10 prior to the announcements, giving it a market value of around S$12.35 billion.
($1 = 1.3537 Singapore dollars) (Reporting by Himanshi Akhand in Bengaluru and Yantoultra Ngui in Singapore; Editing by Anil D'Silva and Mark Potter and David Evans)
