Mr Tharman, why not use $1.1 billion bus package to buy back all SBS shares?

[Confuseous]

A check on the SGX website on 17 Mar 2012 showed that SBS shares last transacted at $1.71. Since there are currently 308,629,766 SBS shares issued [2], the current SBS market capitalisation stands at $528 million. The $820 million to be used to cover operating costs of the 550 new buses over the next 10 years [1] is more than enough to buy back all SBS shares. This will be made easier considering that the government indirectly owns 18.4% of SBS shares [3]. The shares that needs to be bought back amount to 81.6% of $528 million = $431 million. By spending $431 million, the government will be able to buy back SBS entirely with $389 million to spare.

- http://trulysingapore.wordpress.com/2012/03/18/use-1-1-billion-bus-package-to-buy-back-sbs/