The seven shareholders who had sold their shares to the Tangs were all related and, with the exception of one, held various senior appointments in the group. On Oct 8, CES disclosed that two Lim sisters would retain stakes of 1.55% and 0.38%, respectively, in the company after the deal while the other five shareholders would no longer hold any shares.
SINGAPORE (Sept 23): A married deal last year between the Lim family controlling Chip Eng Seng (CES) and billionaire couple Gordon and Celine Tang, has come under the scrutiny of the Securities Industry Council.
In the Oct 5, 2018 deal, the Tangs, with an estimated net worth of US$1.4 billion ($1.9 billion) according to Forbes, had acquired a 29.73% controlling stake in CES for $200.1 million. This was just below the 30% threshold, which, under the Singapore Code on Take-overs, would require them to buy out minority shareholders at the acquisition price of $1.08 a share, 14.8% higher than the Oct 5, 2018 share price of 94 cents.
