Temasek Holdings - History

History

At independence, the Singapore government had ownership or joint ownership of a number of local companies, such as Malaysia-Singapore Airlines (later broken up into Malaysia Airlines and Singapore Airlines) and the Singapore Telephone Board (which would later become Singapore Telecommunications). As part of its push for local and foreign private investment in sectors such as manufacturing and shipbuilding, the government's Economic Development Board (EDB) took on minority stakes in a variety of local companies. The government also acquired or established several companies, such as Keppel Corporation (originally Keppel shipyard, taken over from the British Royal Navy after it withdrew from the island), ST Engineering (originally a weapon manufacturer set up to supply the Singapore Armed Forces), and the shipping company Neptune Orient Lines.

Prior to the incorporation of Temasek Holdings, most of these stakes were held by the Ministry of Finance. Temasek was incorporated in 1974 by an Act of Parliament. The Ministry was set up as (and remains) Temasek's sole shareholder, and the Ministry's various stakes were transferred to it, forming an initial portfolio of just over US$100 million.

Several of the companies in Temasek's initial portfolio were subsequently publicly listed, although Temasek continues to retain a large (and in some case a majority) stake. As of 2011, it owns approximately 20 percent of Keppel Corporation, 54 percent of Singapore Telecommunications, 55 percent of Singapore Airlines, and 66 percent of Neptune Orient Lines (see Temasek Holdings' investments).

In Jan 2008, The Economist reported that Morgan Stanley had estimated the fund's assets at US$159.2 billion.

On 5 March 2008, Simon Israel, Temasek Holdings’s executive director, appeared in the US House of Representatives before a joint sub-committee of the House Financial Services Committee in a hearing related to foreign government investments in the United States.