Kepple's disposal of $593m stake in China marine project blocked

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Nov 22, 2017 06:00 am

Keppel Corp's planned 2.9 billion yuan (S$593 million) disposal of its stake in a China marina project is being blocked by the minority shareholder through legal proceedings here.

Keppel, a conglomerate with businesses in rigbuilding and property, among others, said it will vigorously defend against those attempts.

In an announcement yesterday, Keppel said wholly owned subsidiary Keppel Land China (KLC) and KLC's fully owned unit Keppel China Marina Holdings (KCMH) have been served with writs of summons by Sunsea Yacht Club (Hong Kong) seeking to stop KLC from selling KCMH.

KCMH owns 80 per cent of a joint venture that owns and develops Keppel Cove, a residential and marina development in Zhongshan City in Guangdong, with Sunsea owning the remaining 20 per cent.

KLC had inked an agreement on Oct 25 to divest its entire stake in KCMH to Delight Prime, a unit of Hong Kong-listed Logan Property, for 2.9 billion yuan.

If the deal is completed, KLC would be able to recognise a gain of about $290 million from the divestment, which Keppel said was in line with its "strategy to recycle assets to seek higher returns and rebalance its portfolio to focus on selected high-growth cities in China".