Singapore’s Jurong Port completes purchase of Lim family’s stake in Universal Terminal

Singapore’s Jurong Port completes purchase of Lim family’s stake in Universal Terminal

Singapore port operator Jurong Port has completed its acquisition of a stake in a major oil storage terminal in the city-state from the family behind collapsed oil trader Hin Leong Trading Pte Ltd.

Government-owned Jurong Port has completed the purchase of a 41 percent stake in Universal Terminal from the Lim family. He declined to give details on the transaction.

The deal marks the sale of the crown jewel among oil and shipping assets owned by oil tycoon Lim Oon Kuin, his son Evan Lim Chee Meng and daughter Lim Huey Ching.

It comes nearly a year after Hin Leong, once Asia’s largest oil trader, racked up some $4 billion in debt and entered court restructuring. Earlier this month, Singapore’s High Court approved the winding up of Hin Leong.

PetroChina International (Singapore) owns 25 percent of the terminal, while MAIF Investments Singapore, a unit of Australian investment bank Macquarie Group, holds the remaining 34 percent.

The terminal, with 2.33 million cubic metres of oil storage capacity and deepwater berthing facilities that allows two supertankers to dock at the same time, is regarded as a most prized asset invested in by the Lim family.

Jurong Port, a fully owned subsidiary of Singapore’s industrial property developer and planner JTC Corp, entered the oil storage business in 2019 in a tie-up with independent storage operator Oiltanking.

For more information visit www.jp.com.sg

29th March 2021