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Lanxess
in talks with Singapore state funds
Thomson
Financial
27 Feb
08
http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/articles/newstex/AFX-0013-23318072.htm
Lanxess
AG wants to win a Singapore state fund as a new stakeholder,
chief executive Axel Heitmann told Frankfurter Allgemeine
Zeitung.
"I have discussed this matter with
Singapore's state premier," he said, adding he could very
well imagine Asian state funds with good reputations investing in
Lanxess.
Singapore state premier Lee Hsien Loong is also
deputy chairman of state fund Government of Singapore Investment
Corp (GIC).
According to the report, Heitmann is also
planning to meet with representatives of Temasek Holdings,
another Singapore-based fund.
The CEO stressed, however,
Lanxess will not implement a capital increase to win new
investors.
"If one of the state funds wants to invest
in us, they will have to buy shares on the market," Heitmann
said.
Lanxess clarified it is not currently in any
negotiations with GIC regarding an investment.
"In
the context of the announced investment in a chemical facility in
Singapore, there was among other activities a meeting with
representatives of GIC," Lanxess said in a statement, adding
'the parties met as a courtesy' and any other interpretation is
'pure speculation'.
Lanxess announced yesterday it plans
to invest about 400 mln eur in a new plant for the production of
synthetic rubber in Singapore.
The project is Lanxess'
largest single investment since the German chemical company was
spun off from Bayer AG about three years ago.
Germany's
Lanxess in talks with GIC on stake-paper
Reuters
26 Feb
08
http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssIndustryMaterialsUtilitiesNews/idUSL2674351520080226
Chemicals
company Lanxess is in talks with Singapore's largest sovereign
wealth fund about buying a stake in the German company, a German
daily reported on Tuesday.
"I have spoken with Prime
Minister Lee Hsien Loong about the issue," Lanxess Chief
Executive Axel Heitmann told Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung in an
interview to be published on Wednesday.
Loong is the
deputy chairman of Government of Singapore Investment Corp (GIC),
which invests Singapore's foreign exchange reserves.
His
father Lee Kuan Yew is the chairman of GIC, which was set up in
1981 with assets of under S$10 billion ($7.12 billion).
Further
talks between Lanxess and GIC management were scheduled, the
paper reported.
Heitmann, who is travelling in Singapore,
said he could "very well imagine" Asian state-owned
funds with a strong reputation purchasing Lanxess shares.
"For
me the quality of the fund is decisive," he continued
adding: "The size of the individual stake is not a
priority."
Heitman said Lanxess would also speak to
Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings [TEM.UL] as soon as
possible.
"If one of the two state-owned funds wants
to buy a stake, it will have to purchase shares in the market,"
Heitmann said.
Temasek Holdings, headed by the prime
minister's wife, Ho Ching, has an S$164 billion ($116.8 billion)
portfolio.
Reporting
by Nicola Leske; Editing by David Cowell
Lanxess
denies talks with Singapore's GIC on stake
Reuters
27
Feb
08
http://www.reuters.com/article/rbssIndustryMaterialsUtilitiesNews/idUSSFB00085620080227
Lanxess
AG said on Wednesday it was not in talks with the Government of
Singapore Investment Corp (GIC) over a possible investment by the
sovereign wealth fund in the chemicals company, refuting a German
newspaper report.
In an interview to be published on
Wednesday, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung quoted Chief Executive
Axel Heitmann as saying that Lanxess was holding discussions with
Singapore's largest sovereign wealth fund about buying a stake in
the German firm.
"There are no negotiations between
Lanxess and GIC," Lanxess said in an emailed
statement.
"Reports that Mr Heitmann wanted to speak
with the Singapore industry fund Temasek Holdings as soon as
possible are incorrect," the statement added.
Lanxess
said Heitmann met with representatives of GIC "as a
courtesy" following its announcement on Tuesday that it
would build a new rubber plant in Singapore worth 400 million
euros ($585 million).
"Any
other interpretation of this meeting is pure speculation,"
the statement said.
Reporting
by Jennifer Tan, editing by Neil Chatterjee
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