ST Engineering bags remaining DataMark shares for S$148,000

Singapore Technologies Engineering Ltd today announced ST Electronics’ acquisition of the remaining 38.88% equity stakes of Datamark for S$148,000.

The stakes were acquired from four of the existing shareholders. The purchase consideration was arrived at on a willing buyer willing seller basis, based on DataMark's net tangible assets as of 31 August 2009 and taking into consideration DataMark's past performance, current assets and future prospects. DataMark, a provider of watermarking technologies and security technologies, will now become a wholly-owned subsidiary of STEE-InfoSec, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of ST Electronics (Info-Comm Systems) Pte. Ltd. which in turn is a wholly-owned subsidiary of ST Engineering's electronics arm, Singapore Technologies Electronics Limited.

The additional investment in DataMark is not expected to have any material impact on the consolidated net tangible assets per share and earnings per share of ST Engineering for the current financial year.

STEE-InfoSec first invested in DataMark in 2000. DataMark provides digital watermarking technologies and solutions for the authenticity of digital information. The investment will offer better synergy for the delivery of a comprehensive suite of info-security products to the market.

ST Engineering reported audited revenue of S$5.34b in FY2008 and ranks among the largest companies listed on the Singapore Exchange.