Otto Marine Wins Tanker Deal, Seeks Delisting

PT Batamec Singapore-based offshore marine company Otto Marine Limited has secured a shipbuilding contract for a 6,500 dwt product tanker from an Indonesian stated-owned enterprise. The deal, which is worth USD 14 million, was secured through the companys wholly-owned subsidiary, PT Batamec. Scheduled for delivery in the second quarter of 2018, the tanker is expected to operate in the Indonesian waters. Otto Marine said that the deal is expected to have positive contribution to the consolidated earnings per share or consolidated net tangible assets per share of the company and the group for the financial years ending 31 December 2017 and 31 December 2018, respectively. In a separate announcement, the company said that it received a delisting proposal from British Virgin Islands-incorporated investment holding firm Ocean International Capital Limited (OIC) seeking the voluntary delisting of the company from the Singapore Exchange. Acting on behalf of OIC as its financial adviser, RHB Securities Singapore Pte Ltd. (RHB) will make an exit offer in cash to acquire all the issued ordinary shares held by Otto Marines shareholders, other than those owned, controlled or agreed to be acquired by the OIC. Furthermore, RHB would buy all new shares as may be issued prior to the close of the exit offer. The sole director of OIC, a special purpose vehicle incorporated for making the exit offer, is the Malaysian businessman Yaw Chee Siew, who is also a controlling shareholder of Otto Marine, holding 61.2 percent of the companys total issued share capital. Earlier this week, Otto Marine decided to extended its trading halt to consider the offeror’s proposal, as it had requested and received approval from the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading Limited for an extension of the trading halt by 2 market days. The move follows a prolonged period of headwinds in the offshore oil and gas industry, as Otto Marine saw a decrease in external revenue by 31.3 percent to USD 244.4 million in 2015, taking into account its three businesses – shipbuilding, chartering and subsea.