Insight - Singapore investors are polite, but no longer pushovers

After two trusts linked to Singapore state investor Temasek Holdings Pte announced a S$4.2bil (US$3.1bil or RM13.27bil) tie-up last December, David Gerald, the president of the city’s two-decade-old Securities Investors Association, shot off a press statement, asking the manager if unit holders of Mapletree North Asia Commercial Trust wouldn’t be better served by only considering a merger at an offer price above net asset value.

CORPORATE bosses could always count on Singapore’s culture of obedience to herd small investors into lowball mergers or take-private deals.

No longer.