GE shareholders to decide on bonus issue from today

Their choice of bonus or non-voting shares will determine if insurer resumes trading

- Sheila Chiang

Great Eastern (GE) shareholders will receive forms from July 29 to choose whether to take up non-voting shares or receive bonus ordinary shares, a move that will determine whether the insurer can resume trading.

Those opting for Class C shares will need to fill out the form and submit it to the Central Depository by 5.30pm on Aug 7.

However, no action is required on the part of shareholders who wish to receive bonus ordinary shares.

The development comes after a proposed delisting resolution failed to pass at GE's extraordinary general meeting (EGM) earlier in July. The conditional exit offering of $30.15 per share made by GE's parent company OCBC Bank also lapsed.

GE's shares have been suspended from trading on the Singapore Exchange since July 2024. The pause occurred after the insurer's public float fell below the 10 per cent minimum required by the exchange.

Minority shareholders—who were the only ones allowed to vote—were then asked to vote on the resumption of trading resolution, which necessitates the adoption of a new Constitution to create Class C non-voting shares and undertaking of the proposed bonus issue.