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Singapore to Proceed with UBS Deal

Christopher Owen 29 February 2008

Singapore to Proceed with UBS Deal

The Government of Singapore Investment Corporation said yesterday that it will complete the deal to inject $10.3 billion into Swiss bank UBS after the bank's shareholders approved the deal. The agreement will give the sovereign wealth fund a stake of around nine per cent and make it UBS's largest single shareholder. A further $2 billion will come from an unnamed Middle East investor. The Singapore Investment Corporation will "proceed to complete the transaction in accordance with the terms of the agreement," it said in a brief statement. The minimum reference price for the conversion was stipulated at SFr51.48, the price that the investors pledged to pay for the UBS shares. Under these terms, the two investors would own about 252 million shares at maturity of the mandatory convertible notes on 5 March 2010. UBS' share price has more than halved since last summer and the current price of around SFr37 per share would make the shares worth SFr9.3 billion, leaving the two investors with a potential loss of SFr3.7 billion. Earlier this month UBS recorded its first ever full-year net loss after losing $18 billion as a result of a crisis in the US subprime mortgage sector which has afflicted banks around the world. In January, the Singapore Sovereign Wealth Fund said it would invest $6.88 billion in US banking giant Citigroup, whose finances have also been battered by the US housing slump.

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