Battle over NatSteel: Undervaluation or Inimitable Foresight?

Abstract

On June 3, 2002, Singapore's longest corporate takeover battle broke out at NatSteel Ltd when its president Ang Kong Hua, together with his senior managers, launched a management buyout offer to acquire the only steel miller in Singapore. The management buyout offer for a government-linked company was unprecedented in terms of size. In the ensuing months, numerous twists and turns related to the saga emerged, making the takeover battle one of the most memorable and reported events in Singapore's corporate history. The long and winding case can be approached from three perspectives, namely, corporate finance, law, and strategic management. Readers would gain a lot of insight by looking at the case from all three perspectives instead of only one or two of them. A rich understanding of the dynamics of this case should help students understand and appreciate the many thorny and agonizing issues which real-life decision makers in the corporate world must face and address.