Merrill Lynch
Only 5m were sold, sources
Sale did take place but it was only 5m shares - not 86.9m, which was misreported due to a filing glitch. By Seah Chiang Nee
Jul 26, 2008

Temasek Holdings has sold 5m Merrill Lynch shares, not 86.9m, which was wrongly reported because of a fiing glitch.

The erroneous information was picked up by a California-based firm Mutual Fund Facts About Individual Stocks (MFFAIS), according to the Straits Times obviously after talking to Temasek insiders.

Temasek did not confirm or deny the MFFAIS report yesterday (obviously following its tradition of not commenting on repors of its trades).

What had caused the glitch was not explained.

Its spokesman Myrna Thomas told local and foreign media: "Investors and the interested public are advised to refer only to official sources of information for announcements on major transactions".

The Straits Times reported that a check had found a Jan 3 SEC filing by Temasek showing that the company held 91.67m shares, or 9.4 per cent of Merrill, as at Dec 24.

Then, on May 15, Temasek made another filing stating that it owned 86.95 million shares in Merrill as at March 31, it added.

"That represents a stake of 8.85 per cent, according to Bloomberg data on June 30.
So, in other words, Temasek did not sell 87 million Merrill shares, but more like five million."

Apparently quoting from insider sources, it said, "The Straits Times understands that Temasek had to trim its total stake after it exercised the option to purchase an additional 12.5mn shares in February.

"This is to keep below the 10 per cent threshold for foreign investors' shareholdings in a US financial institution, mandated by the authorities.

"So it may have sold off a few million shares to meet the requirements, say sources."

The sale represents a loss, but a negligent one relatively to the large size, and no where as big as it would have been, if 86.9m shares had been sold. Merrill Lynch share price has dropped by 43% since Temasek first bought into the troubled bank.
By Seah Chiang Nee