OCBC chairman defends bank's takeover offer for Great Eastern, calls it the 'right strategy'

OCBC Bank chairman Andrew Lee has defended a takeover offer for Great Eastern (GE), saying the insurer gives the bank an added advantage over its peers.

- Kang Wan Chern

"The board has looked at all (the options) and remains convinced that our strategy on GE is the right strategy," he said at OCBC's 2024 annual general meeting (AGM) on April 17.

"We are not blinking."

OCBC in May 2024 launched a $1.4 billion bid to privatise GE by acquiring the remaining 11.56 per cent stake it did not own at $25.60 per share.

However, the bank's accumulated stake by the end of the offer in July 2024, at 93.7 per cent, was insufficient for it to compulsorily acquire the rest of GE's shares, causing GE to lose its required 10 per cent minimum free float and resulting in the trading suspension of GE's shares.

OCBC has since stated that it plans to seek GE's delisting from the Singapore Exchange if the public float requirement is not met by May 25, the deadline given by the exchange. It also does not intend to take any action to keep GE listed if that requirement is not fulfilled.

Addressing questions from shareholders at the AGM, including why the bank is raising its stake in GE and whether it is paying the right price for the insurer, Mr Lee stressed that OCBC "is not a pure-play bank" like DBS and UOB.

He cited OCBC's diversified business model, which includes insurance, asset and wealth management, and two banking licences — commercial banking and private banking — under one financial group.