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Sino-Ocean seeks controlling stake in Kee Shing

By Nie Peng (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2010-07-08 16:09

Sino-Ocean Land Holdings announced Wednesday night that it intends take a controlling stake in Kee Shing (Holdings) for HK$474 million ($61 million).

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Sino-Ocean, which went public on the Hong Kong stock exchange less than three years ago, said in a statement that it offered at least HK$1.54 per share to acquire 69.02 percent of Kee Shing.

Last month, Kee Shing reached a memorandum of understanding with its major shareholders on the stake sale, but didn't reveal the identity of the buyer, according to caijing.com.cn.

Sino-Ocean said it will retain Kee Shing's status as a publicly traded company after the acquisition is completed.

Kee Shing started in Hong Kong as a local distributor of electroplating metals and chemicals in the 1970s and was listed in Hong Kong in 1988. In 1996, it began property investments, which remain small, and now mainly engages in electroplating metals and chemicals, stainless steel, and chemical solutions, according to the company's website.