Great Eastern minority holders seeking better offer from OCBC

Some shareholders point to 30% discount against insurance firm’s embedded value

A group of minority holders of Great Eastern Holdings are resisting the $1.4 billion takeover bid from OCBC Bank, opening a new front in a longstanding fight between shareholder activists and Singapore's second-largest bank.

The price of $25.60 per share is well above the stock's price before the announcement. Some shareholders, however, point to a 30 per cent discount against Great Eastern's embedded value, a metric that has been used to value insurance firms elsewhere. By that measure, it is half the valuation the bank used in its last attempt to take full ownership of the company.

OCBC, which holds more than 88 per cent of Great Eastern, said earlier in May that it is seeking to delist the stock.

"We are now caught between a rock and a hard place," said former remisier Ong Chin Woo, who owns Great Eastern and OCBC shares.

Since 2021, he has been a vocal spokesman for a group that now comprises more than 100 minority shareholders. "If OCBC has no other choices, at least give us a fair exit offer," he added.