CVC, StanChart put Singapore's Amtek on block

By Michael Flaherty and Saeed Azhar

HONG KONG/SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Private equity firm CVC Capital and Standard Chartered's buyout unit are seeking potential buyers for Singapore's Amtek Engineering, according to sources familiar with the matter.

CVC and Standard Chartered agreed to buy the company last May for S$552 million.

Several sources with direct knowledge of the process said two factors have led the firms to auction the company. For one, another Singapore-based technology company, Unisteel Technologies UNST.SI, agreed to be bought by Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. in June for $575 million, in a deal that bankers believed involved a high price tag for the company.

Seeing that deal, Amtek's owners have decided to test the market for private equity buyers, hoping to attract the attention of KKR and Affinity Equity Partners, among others, sources told Reuters on Thursday.

Though both are technology companies, Unisteel, a disc drive component maker, operates more of a niche business than Amtek. Amtek is one of the largest metal stamping companies in Singapore. Its metal parts are used for a range of products, home appliances and computers.

Another reason for the auction is that Standard Chartered has had a tough time syndicating the loans used for the 2007 Amtek deal, according to bankers. StanChart hopes a buyer would take the loans off its balance sheet.

Stanchart and CVC declined to comment.

(Reporting by Michael Flaherty, Editing by Jonathan Hopfner and Ken Wills)