Sources in the securities business say that Temasek Holdings has tendered for nearly 100 per cent of Shin Corp Plc's shares. They base their belief on very thin trading volume in the stock yesterday.

"The volume was only Bt7 million, indicating that nearly all the shares are in the hands of the Singapore buyer," said a source who asked not to be named.

Only 150,000 Shin Corp shares changed hands yesterday, with a combined value of Bt6.88 million. On Friday, only 75,000 shares were traded, worth Bt3.3 million.

Yesterday, the overall market remained sluggish with a trading volume of Bt9.3 billion. Investors were apparently concerned with threats by anti-Thaksin protesters to take their rallies to Government House.

SCB Securities is widely expected to reveal today the number of additional Shin Corp shares that Cedar Holdings and Aspen Holdings - which are owned by Temasek - will buy in addition to the 49.6 per cent stake they bought from the Shinawatra and Damapong families.

On March 2, before the tender offer closed, Aspen Holdings and Cedar Holdings spoke of buying an additional 16 per cent stake in the Thai telecom holding company. What has happened between March 2 and the final day of the offer, March 9, will soon be made clear.

An officer at the Securities and Exchange Commission said tender offerers normally had five working days after the last date to reveal the figures. The tender offer, aiming to pick up the remaining 50.4 per cent of Shin Corp's shares, ended on March 9 and Aspen and Cedar will pay tomorrow for the additional shares successfully attracted by their offer.

"Therefore, SCB Securities has until Thursday to reveal the figures," the officer said.

However, the thin trading volume shows that Temasek is going ahead with the acquisition despite strong opposition in Thailand.

The sale of Shin Corp to Temasek

has triggered calls for Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra's resignation. Demonstrators have been demanding that Temasek abandon its acquisition of Shin Corp and there have also been calls for a boycott of Singapore products and businesses.

In a report published yesterday, Singapore Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong was quoted as saying Temasek's purchase of Shin Corp is a purely commercial decision.

He told local media in Singapore that Temasek's acquisition of Shin Corp was a sign of confidence in Thailand and he expressed hope that relations would continue to prosper.

Referring to Temasek, which is the Singapore government's investment arm, Lee was quoted by The Business Times as saying: "We encourage them to go regional. We encourage them to take long-term stakes in our neighbours because we have confidence in Southeast Asia and our neighbours.

"So does Temasek. But they make their own commercial decisions and, when they go in, they have to comply with the laws and rules of the countries they go into."

Lee's his first comments since the start of Bangkok protests by thousands of people opposing Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra, following his sale of Shin Corp to Temasek.

Temasek is run by Lee's wife, former senior civil servant Ho Ching, who is regarded as one of the most powerful business executives in Asia because she controls a global investment portfolio worth more than US$63 billion.

"We have had good relations [with Thailand] for a very long time, stretching back decades into the 60s, over successive governments, over successive prime ministers," Lee said, adding that he hoped relations would "develop and prosper in all fields."

The Business Times on Saturday also quoted Temasek's managing director for investment, S Iswaran, as saying that the company was aware its investments globally come with political risks.

"Every investment opportunity comes with its own set of risk-reward trade-offs, be they country, market, political, operational regulatory, financial or execution risks," Iswaran told the newspaper.

He said the takeover would be completed by March 14 in accordance with the rules of the Stock Exchange of Thailand.

"Whether in investments or divestments, we are mindful that there can be social or political sensitivities, even in Singapore. We seek to address such stakeholder concerns where we can, and mitigate these risks appropriately."

Political tension related to the Shin deal also led to a rumour last week that Temasek-related DBS Bank would shelve plans to yank its 16.1-per-cent stake in Thailand's TMB Bank.

However, a DBS spokesman told The Straits Times on Saturday that DBS was studying a new fund-raising scheme offered to all shareholders by TMB Bank that would enable DBS to boost its stake.

"Prior to this capital-raising exercise, we've always said that we're committed to TMB and will look at opportunities to increase our stake," the spokesman was quoted as saying.

TMB's board on Friday approved a plan to raise between Bt18 billion and Bt20 billion in new capital within the next six months. If DBS takes up its full entitlement of the new shares, its TMB stake will go up to about 19.4 per cent.

The Nation, Agencies