Could it because the rules are different on the SGX? I believe it requires a 70% approval on the ASX but as I read the link below, only a 51% approval is required on the SGX. If the merger has to go ahead, it would be costless and prudent to put in a covenant requiring 70% shareholder approval in order to put it in line with ASX rules, the basis on which all of us invested...
Note the last line of the below:
Takeover Guide to Singapore
Mandatory Offers
Mandatory offers are mandatory once certain conditions are met and are an offer for all outstanding shares in the target company.
There are 2 conditions which trigger mandatory offers:
- Any person acquires more than 30% voting rights of a company
- Any person who holds between 30% to 50% voting rights and acquires more than 1% of additional voting rights within any 6-month period
The offer price cannot be lower than the highest price paid by the offerer for any shares during the offer period and within the six months leading up to the beginning of the offer period.
For it go through:
The offerer needs to obtain enough acceptances to result in it holding more than 50% of the voting rights of the target company.
