On Jan 16, Bloomberg reported that Vertical Theme was considering selling its 29% stake in Alliance, which is one of Malaysia’s smallest-listed banks.
The signing of the agreement between Singapore and Malaysia’s prime ministers on the Johor-Singapore special economic zone (JS-SEZ) may have been a catalyst behind DBS’s reported decision to purchase Vertical Theme’s 29.1% stake in Alliance Bank Malaysia, say CreditSights analysts Karen Wu and Pramod Shenoi. Singapore’s and Malaysia’s leaders signed the JS-SEZ agreement on Jan 7.
Vertical Theme is 49% owned by Temasek Holdings via Duxton Investment & Development Pte. The remaining stake is held by RRJ Capital founder Richard Ong, hotelier Ong Beng Seng and corporate adviser Seow Lun Hoo through Langkah Bahagia Sdn.
