"You scratch my back, I scratch yours?"-Shin Corp to Temasek
-
The sale of the giant Thai Telecoms operator - Shin Corp - to Temasek is creating a Political Uproar in Thailand due to shady deals that are now surfacing - as reported in the Bangkok Post. Click here for full article.
The Thai Prime Minister - Mr Thaksin Shinawatra has denied his direct involvement and ownership of Shin Corp since he became the Prime Minister of Thailand; and had stated that his son - Mr Panthongthae - is the owner of the Holding Company - named "Ample Rich" - since December 2000 and that even the Stock Exchange of Thailand is "aware" of this status.
According to the Bangkok Post, the Thai Prime Minister told cabinet ministers that he had set up Ample Rich in the British Virgin Islands only because he wanted to invest in the US stock market and that the subsequent transfer of Ample Rich to his son did not violate any law.
As matters now appear, it seems that the company had reportedly sold 392 million shares of Shin Corp to a Mr Panthongthae and his sister Pinthongta at one baht a share on Jan 20.
The two then sold all their holdings in the telecom giant to Singapore's Temasek Holdings on Jan 23at 49.25 baht a share.
This transaction had created an uproar amongst the Thai Citizens, should we be concerned that our own Temasek may have been taken for a ride in this 'get rich' scheme ?
Did we "scratch" their back, and got our's in return ?
Will Singaporeans make any call for an enquiry to the dealings that Temasek had made in paying such a huge sum of our National Surplus to gain control of another Country's "national asset" ?
Thailand is supposed to be a "Third World" country, and yet they enjoy the Press Freedom of the "First World"; while our Singaporean "First World" Newspapers only make "Third World"news on Singaporeans flashing within their own homes. -
In an accompanying report in the Bangkok Post - (click here for report), the Thai Prime Minister was urged to make a moral donation of 26 BILLION BAHT to a Charity for the Poor, with this sum taken from his windfall of 73 BILLION BAHT
73 BILLION BAHT - WINDFALL TAX EXEMPT due to Capital Gains Exemption.
73 BILLION BAHT is equivalent to S$3.04 BILLION at an exchange rate of ONE BAHT to S$0.04168.
Prior to the completion of the take-over, the Thais were not in favor of Shin Corp being sold to Temasek, and negative public expressions have been boiling over amongst the Thai Citizens, Politicians and even their Law Society since late 2005.
(Click here for summary list of newsheadlines in Bangkok Post) .
Yet our the major Singaporean Newspapers were silent on the negative reactions of the Thais towards our national company poaching one of the "national asset" of Thailand. -
This insider trading issue is widely reported in local press as well.
Its a Thai problem, not ours and Temasek hasn't been taken for a ride nor involved in any way. You better watch your spinning. -
salman as usual is talking rubbish!!! there is a thing called 'Due Dillegence' which sounds like Temasek rushed through once again....if i was the royal highness Ho Ching I would have sat up and taken note at how fast the Thai prime minsiter raised the percentage of foreign ownership on Thai telecommunication companies. It was raised to 49% in a single day. The Thai PM was in a rush to get the cash from Temasek. Now even my grandmother will tell you that raising stakes in a single afternoon is a receipe for political disaster. The backlash from the politicians and the Thai people will eventually fall on the new owners of Shin corporation being Temasek! Ho Ching is on a shopping spree with Singaporeans cash. Hope she buys some nice shoes and not just JUNK!
-
What does due diligence or the lack of it have to do with insider trading on the part of the Thais? Please explain.
-
Any smart cookie lawyer, acting for temasek, would have seen right through the corporate structure of Ample Rich and would have highlighted his concerns to temasek. The transaction on the share register of Ample Rich would have raised questions alone and in return Temasek could have asked for indemnity guarantees to cover its ass if problems were to rise in the future. Its all part of the due dillegence process. All this is too complicated for someone like Salman to answer. A comon man like salman buys any story line sold to him by Straits Times
-
Don't be so hard on Salman lah.Originally posted by tohyi:Any smart cookie lawyer, acting for temasek, would have seen right through the corporate structure of Ample Rich and would have highlighted his concerns to temasek. The transaction on the share register of Ample Rich would have raised questions alone and in return Temasek could have asked for indemnity guarantees to cover its ass if problems were to rise in the future. Its all part of the due dillegence process. All this is too complicated for someone like Salman to answer. A comon man like salman buys any story line sold to him by Straits Times
He is after all just a kid with too much time on his hands.
-
And it seems that you do not know that Temasek's job is to buy Shin Corp, not worry abt insider trading which it is not responsisble for.
And if you really follow the news, the Thais are after Thaksin, they find no fault in Temasek. -
It will still impact on Temasek as the new owners.Public perception and feel-good factor have already been impacted.Originally posted by Salman:And it seems that you do not know that Temasek's job is to buy Shin Corp, not worry abt insider trading which it is not responsisble for.
And if you really follow the news, the Thais are after Thaksin, they find no fault in Temasek. -
Nope, it will not.
and even if it does, it was not their responsibility, they are clean and the Thais are not after them. -
If you read the news, the thais have also voiced their concerns that Temasek holdings could possibly use the satelites to spy on Thailand....so TH is also under flak.Originally posted by Salman:And it seems that you do not know that Temasek's job is to buy Shin Corp, not worry abt insider trading which it is not responsisble for.
And if you really follow the news, the Thais are after Thaksin, they find no fault in Temasek. -
Once again, Temasek Holding's Money is NOT singaporeans money! TH is a private commercial entity set up by the Ministry of Finance.
-
And where does the money from the MOF come from?Originally posted by shade343:Once again, Temasek Holding's Money is NOT singaporeans money! TH is a private commercial entity set up by the Ministry of Finance. -
By the way, why are there 2 investing arms of the sg government ie. Temasek Holdings and GIC?
-
Originally posted by shade343:
Thats not Temasek's problem.
If you read the news, the thais have also voiced their concerns that Teamasek holdings could possibly use the satelites to spy on Thailand....so TH is also under flak. -
MOF money comes from their daily operational activities.Originally posted by charlize:And where does the money from the MOF come from? -
LOL similar thing happen when Singtel bought over Optus, but less then 2wks all the uproar gone with the wind. The thing is no matter what business as long as it a local big organisation that is bought over by a foreign organisation, there will always be a uproar. if it a small business, you see if they even bother to complain abt it.Originally posted by shade343:If you read the news, the thais have also voiced their concerns that Teamasek holdings could possibly use the satelites to spy on Thailand....so TH is also under flak.
The important thing is it must be able to make money from it as that what business is all about. Business and emotion can't always go hand in hand. Business is about making money and not making love. At the end of the day, who will benefit? Both of them cause it create jobs for the Thai while it generate profit for Temasek which is what it should be realising in the long run.
Anyway if they intent to sell and Temasek don't buy, someone else will so why not let Temasek be the one that buy it over as it a big and well establish company with a pretty big market share in Thailand. Nothing to lose unless they crap it up and causes it to lose money instead of gaining. -
Like?Originally posted by shade343:MOF money comes from their daily operational activities. -
Read the papers a couple of days ago...It clearly states that the funding for Temasek which comes via the Ministry of Finance is all Singapore tax payers money....Unfortunately its not Mr Lee Hsien Loong and his family's piggy bank!Originally posted by shade343:Once again, Temasek Holding's Money is NOT singaporeans money! TH is a private commercial entity set up by the Ministry of Finance. -
It's like we pay tax just so that the money can be used to go on overseas shopping sprees. Elites sure have it good up there.Originally posted by tohyi:Read the papers a couple of days ago...It clearly states that the funding for Temasek which comes via the Ministry of Finance is all Singapore tax payers money....Unfortunately its not Mr Lee Hsien Loong and his family's piggy bank! -
When you pay taxes, it is no longer your money. It is the government's money. Since it is the government's money, the government can do what it likes with it legally.Originally posted by tohyi:Read the papers a couple of days ago...It clearly states that the funding for Temasek which comes via the Ministry of Finance is all Singapore tax payers money....Unfortunately its not Mr Lee Hsien Loong and his family's piggy bank! -
Collecting Taxes, duties and whatever lah.Originally posted by charlize:Like? -
How would you know if "Temasek hasn't been taken for a ride" ?The 'brilliance' of Salman's postings:This insider trading issue is widely reported in local press as well.
Its a Thai problem, not ours and Temasek hasn't been taken for a ride nor involved in any way. You better watch your spinning.
From the "historical fact" of the attitude of the CEO of TH, the Micropolis disaster was already a telling story of total incompetence and inexperience that cost Singapore to lose $500 MILLION.
In the last Thai adventure by our Singapore DBS Bank - from an archived Asianweek Report - the experience was a painful one:
"DBS thought it knew all about Thai Danu, having had close links for years. But after the acquisition, the Thai bank's loan portfolio and Thailand's economy turned out to be worse than expected, which helped slash the Singapore bank's 1998 profits by half. "The due diligence effort was inadequate," says DBS chief executive John Olds, "because senior management [at DBS] had known these [Thai Danu] people historically, because nobody knew what the depth of the Crisis was going to be, but probably most importantly because they'd never done a major acquisition before." DBS has since handled the takeover of POSBank in Singapore and Kwong On Bank in Hong Kong much more smoothly."
(Click here for full article)
This time around it has to be a "Singapore Problem" in view of the callous manner in which the No 2 Family of Thailand stand to benefit a windfall of THREE BILLION DOLLARS and in the manner that the deal was transacted.
Is this another cosy relationship transaction - as in the DBS experience ?
This matter has not received the vigorous and critical review by Singaporeans or the local Newspapers, as the Thais have given to this shady transactions.
The Singapore News Group had been more vigorous and unrelenting in their close-up investigation of Durai and the NKF - then it will dare to do any investigative towards the Singapore First Family - even when so much is at stake.
Should I insult your intelligence further, or have you done enough damage to your "no brainer, one-liners" bravado ?Originally posted by Salman:What does due diligence or the lack of it have to do with insider trading on the part of the Thais? Please explain.
If you know nothing about 'due diligence' in a huge takeover attempt - what are you doing here commenting on the opinions of others ?
What has a tertiary education in economics that you have boasted in having done to your understanding of the World of Commerce ?
Read the referenced post again.Originally posted by Salman:And it seems that you do not know that Temasek's job is to buy Shin Corp, not worry abt insider trading which it is not responsisble for.
And if you really follow the news, the Thais are after Thaksin, they find no fault in Temasek.
The Thais are unhappy that Temasek is buying a National Asset in Shin Corp, and the following was mentioned in my second post in this thread :
Prior to the completion of the take-over, the Thais were not in favor of Shin Corp being sold to Temasek, and negative public expressions have been boiling over amongst the Thai Citizens, Politicians and even their Law Society since late 2005.
(Click here for summary list of newsheadlines in Bangkok Post)Originally posted by Salman:
Shin Corp services is dependent on the Thais supporting the products that are marketed.
Nope, it will not.
and even if it does, it was not their responsibility, they are clean and the Thais are not after them.
What is the worth if the Thais boycott the company after the takeover by Temasek Holdings ?
Read the referenced site given above, and anyone will see the furor that Temasek Holdings has created in Thailand, as they have attempted to do so in Australia and in the USA.Originally posted by shade343:
If you read the news, the thais have also voiced their concerns that Teamasek holdings could possibly use the satelites to spy on Thailand....so TH is also under flak.Response by Salman to post above:
What else can we make out from your "no brainer, one-liners" ?
Thats not Temasek's problem.
From a March 2002 study of Thailand commissioned by the International Telecommunication Union, it was reported that Shin Corp has a license to operate a satellite service for only Thirty Years expiring in 2021 - which is about 15 years away.
Shin Corp's business span across several businesses - phones, satellites and airlines and it was when Shin Corp's shares reached an 11-year high that Temasek made its pitch to take over 49.5% share of Shin Corp for 79 BILLION BAHT.
Temasek Holding will soon have to make a public offer to buy all the shares from the remaining shareholders.
Have we seen the end of this flow of Singapore money ?
It was reported in the Taipei Times that competition has eroded the market share of a wholly owned subsidiary - which also a Primary Asset - of Shin Corp and is Thailand's third-largest company.
Shin Corp's net income in the third quarter of 2005 had dropped by 10 percent to 1.98 BILLION BAHT.
With a take over of Shin Corp not being accepted by the Thais - how will the investment turn out when the Thais boycott the services or products from the newly owned TH-Shin Corp ?
It is odd that after having turned Air Asia away - when Air Asia tried to enter Singapore travel market - Temasek is now overseeing the portfolio of Air Asia Thailand. -
Don't worry lah.
Anything goes wrong or if money is lost, it will all be "tuition fees". -
In fact most the tomasick's elites are enjoying life out there.Originally posted by charlize:It's like we pay tax just so that the money can be used to go on overseas shopping sprees. Elites sure have it good up there.