United Engineers

United Engineers: Substantial shareholders, OCBC and Great Eastern Holdings, have extended the exclusivity period for discussions with TCC Top Enterprise to 30 Jan 2015 pertaining to a possible sale of their combined 20.5% stake in United Engineers (UEL). Whilst there is no certainty that the talks will lead to a successful transaction, market watchers are quietly confident that OCBC is keen to divest for the following reasons: 1) OCBC has had a good M&A track record, with F&N and Wing Hang Bank as prime examples 2) UEL’s CEO position has been left vacant for the past 12 months since the previous CEO retired Following the recent divestment of its 68.2% stake in UE E&C, UEL's assets comprise six wholly-owned mixed investment properties in Singapore, as well as seven properties under development in Singapore, Malaysia and China. At $2.90, UEL is valued at a 12% discount to RNAV of $3.30, based on independent valuation as at Dec 2013.