Stocks in China Hit 3-1/2-year High

Equities in India climbed 319 points, or 0.4%, to 80,745 in morning trade on Monday, snapping a six-day losing streak, mainly supported by gains in the pharmaceutical, tech, and banking sectors.

Pharmaceutical stocks rose 0.9% after the White House clarified that countries with existing trade deals with the US are exempt from pharmaceutical tariffs.

The BSE Sensex tracked an upbeat session on Wall Street on Friday, where investors reacted positively to an inflation report that met expectations.

Traders are now awaiting India’s industrial output data for August, due later today, with the market expecting a rise of 5% — the strongest growth in seven months.

However, investor focus remains on the RBI's upcoming monetary policy decision, as well as key Chinese PMI and US jobs data scheduled for later this week.

Among the early gainers were Pharmaceutical (1.7%), Titan (1.4%), IndusInd Bank (1.3%), Bajaj Finance (1.3%), and Tata Steel (1.2%).

LONDON & SINGAPORE--(BUSINESS WIRE)--September 29, 2025--

Cool Company Ltd. ("CoolCo" or the "Company") and EPS Ventures Ltd ("EPS") Announce Board Approval of, and entry into an agreement for, a Merger of CoolCo with Newly Formed, Wholly Owned Subsidiary of EPS Ventures Ltd Recommended by Independent Special Committee of CoolCo

CoolCo and EPS Ventures Ltd today announced that the Board of Directors of CoolCo has approved a transaction, and CoolCo has entered into an agreement, pursuant to which EPS will acquire all of the outstanding shares of CoolCo that are not already held by EPS in exchange for $9.65 in cash per common share. The transaction will be implemented through a merger of a wholly-owned subsidiary of EPS with and into CoolCo.

The $9.65 per share acquisition price represents a 26% premium to the closing price on September 22, 2025 and a 38% premium to the volume weighted average share price of CoolCo's common shares for the 90 trading day period through September 22, 2025.

The Board of Directors of CoolCo (the "Board") established an independent Special Committee, comprised solely of independent and disinterested directors, with its own independent legal and financial advisors, to review and negotiate the terms of the proposed merger. The Special Committee has completed its review and unanimously determined that the transaction, including the merger, is fair to, and in the best interests of, the Company and its shareholders and has recommended that the Board approve the transaction and recommend approval of the merger to the shareholders.

The Board has determined that the merger is in the best interests of the Company and its shareholders. The Board supports the merger and has, with the Special Committee's approval and recommendation, approved the transaction and unanimously recommends shareholders to vote in favor of the transaction.

"We recognize the important chapter that CoolCo has had as a public company since February 2022 and thank our fellow shareholders for their support as CoolCo moves to the next chapter," said Cyril Ducau, CEO of Eastern Pacific Shipping Pte Ltd. "Despite challenging market conditions, the Company has performed well and distributed dividends that have provided meaningful returns to shareholders. Our transition to private ownership marks a new chapter where our priorities are clear: strengthening CoolCo's long-term future while delivering dependable, lower-emission solutions for our clients."

"The Special Committee carefully evaluated the proposed merger with the assistance of independent financial and legal advisors. After a thorough review of the terms, alternatives, and strategic implications, we believe this transaction delivers fair value and is in the best interests of the Company's shareholders and we have recommended to the Board that it makes a recommendation to shareholders to vote in favor," said Sami Iskander, Chair of the Special Committee of CoolCo.

The merger is expected to close during the fourth quarter of 2025 or the first quarter of 2026, subject to approval of the transaction by holders of a majority of the common shares of CoolCo and the satisfaction of certain other customary closing conditions. EPS owns 59.3% of the common shares outstanding and intends to enter into a support agreement with the Company committing to vote its common shares in favor of the merger.

Detailed information regarding the merger, including the Special Committee's and the Board's recommendation, will be included in the Company's proxy statement and/or related filings to be made with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC"). Shareholders are encouraged to review these materials carefully before voting.

Evercore is acting as financial advisor to the Special Committee and Latham & Watkins LLP is acting as legal counsel to the Special Committee. Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom (UK) LLP is acting as legal counsel to EPS and Credit Agricole is acting as financial advisor to EPS.

ABOUT COOLCO

CoolCo is an LNG Carrier pure play with a fleet of 13 vessels and a well-balanced portfolio of short- and long-term charters with the world's leading oil & gas, trading, and utility companies. In addition to organic growth from two newbuilds delivered in Q4 2024 and Q1 2025, CoolCo's strategy includes ongoing assessment of growth opportunities through vessel acquisitions and potential consolidation in the fragmented LNG market. Through its in-house LNG transportation and infrastructure management platform, CoolCo operates its own vessels and provides management services to third-party owners. The company benefits from the scale and support of Eastern Pacific Shipping, an affiliate of its largest shareholder and the owner of one of the world's largest independent shipping fleets. This affiliation strengthens CoolCo's strategic position with shipyards, financial institutions, and deal flow access. CoolCo is committed to supporting global decarbonization and energy security. As part of its LNGe upgrade program, the company aims to reduce emissions by 10-15%, contributing to a fleet-wide emissions reduction target of 35% from 2019 to 2030.

Additional information about CoolCo can be found at www.coolcoltd.com.

FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

This press release and any written or oral statements made by us in connection with this press release include forward-looking statements. In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terminology such as "aim," "anticipate," "assume," "believe," "contemplate," "continue," "could," "due," "estimate," "expect," "goal," "intend," "may," "objective," "plan," "predict," "potential," "positioned," "seek," "should," "target," "will," "would" and other similar expressions that are predictions of or indicate future events and future trends, or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology, although not all forward-looking statements contain these words. All statements contained in this press release that do not relate to matters of historical fact should be considered forward-looking statements, including but not limited to, statements regarding the proposed transaction (the "Transaction"), including the expected timing of the closing of the Transaction; other statements about the Transaction including the impact of the Transaction and other non-historical statements.

Any forward-looking statements contained herein are based on our historical performance and our current plans, estimates, strategies, priorities and expectations and are not a representation that such plans, estimates, or expectations will be achieved. These forward-looking statements represent our expectations as of the date of this press release. Subsequent events may cause these expectations to change, and we disclaim any obligation to update the forward-looking statements in the future, except as required by law. These forward-looking statements are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially from our current expectations.

Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated in our forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, (i) the Transaction may not be consummated within the expected timeframe in accordance with expected terms and plans, or at all; (ii) litigation relating to the Transaction could be instituted against the Company, or other parties including their respective directors, managers or officers, and the outcome of any litigation cannot be predicted; (iii) disruptions from the Transaction may harm the Company's business, including current plans and operations; (iv) the Transaction may result in the diversion of management's time and attention to issues relating to the Transaction; (v) the Transaction may impact the Company's ability to retain and hire key personnel; (vi) potential adverse reactions or changes to business relationships may result from the announcement or completion of the Transaction; (vii) the Transaction announcement may impact availability of capital; (viii) potential business uncertainty, including changes to existing business relationships, during the pendency of the Transaction could affect the Company's financial performance; (ix) restrictions under the definitive agreement governing the Transaction may impact the Company's ability to pursue certain business opportunities or strategic transactions during the pendency of the Transaction; (x) there will be costs in connection with the Transaction; (xi) an event, change or other circumstance could give rise to the termination of the definitive agreement governing the Transaction; (xii) competing offers or acquisition proposals may be made in response to the announcement of the Transaction; (xiii) the announcement or pendency of the Transaction may impact the Company's common share prices and/or operating results and cause uncertainty as to the long-term value of Company's common shares; and (xiv) the other risks described under the captions "Item 3. Key Information — D. Risk Factors" and "Cautionary Statement Regarding Forward-Looking Statement" in our Annual Report on Form 20-F for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2024, filed with the SEC, as such factors may be updated from time to time in our other filings with and submissions to the SEC, which are accessible on the SEC's website at www.sec.gov and the Investor Relations page of our website at https://www.coolcoltd.com/investors/sec-filings.

Important Information

Hong Kong equities jumped 409 points, or 1.6%, to 26,533 in early trade on Monday, rebounding from two sessions of losses as gains spread across all sectors.

Sentiment was buoyed by stronger U.S. futures and news that President Trump will meet congressional leaders later in the day to discuss extending government funding and averting a shutdown.

Meanwhile, Trump’s latest tariffs—set to take effect October 1 and targeting items such as kitchen cabinets (50%), furniture (30%), and heavy trucks (25%)—did not trigger the volatility seen in April.

Gains were capped by caution ahead of China’s week-long National Day and Mid-Autumn Festival holidays beginning October 1, as well as anticipation for September PMI data.

The previous month showed conflicting signals, with official data pointing to contraction while a private survey indicated a rebound in manufacturing.

Early top performers included Sands China (4.8%), Kuaishou Tech (4.0%), KE Holdings (3.7%), AIA Group (2.8%), and Meituan (2.1%).

The Shanghai Composite slipped 0.2% to around 3,820 while the tech-heavy Shenzhen Component surged 1.3% to 13,380 on Monday, with the latter moving back toward multi-year highs as China’s drive for artificial intelligence continued to attract global investors.

Data showed global hedge funds have been the most active on mainland markets in recent years, with the latest rally and progress in high-tech industries drawing strong interest. On the economic front, industrial profits rose 0.9% YoY to CNY 4.69 trillion in the first eight months of 2025, rebounding from a 1.7% drop in the January–July period.

Investors now await official and private PMI reports for further clues on the economy.

Among individual names, notable gains came from Zhongji Innolight (2.5%), Eoptolink Technology (4%), Shenzhen H&T Intelligent (4.6%), Sungrow Power (7%) and Contemporary Amperex (3.6%).

The benchmark KOSPI climbed 1.2% to around 3,427.1 on Monday, recovering from steep losses in the previous session as heavyweight gains and easing concerns over US–Korea FX talks lifted sentiment.

Investors stepped back in for bargain-hunting, with the rebound led by heavyweight tech and auto shares.

Samsung Electronics gained 1.8% and SK Hynix jumped over 3.4%, while Hyundai Motor added 0.5%.

Financials also contributed as KB Financial Group gained 2.3%, and Naver jumped 7.8% to extend momentum in internet stocks.

Optimism was further supported by developments in the US–Korea financial talks, as the presidential office noted that Washington is unlikely to designate Seoul a currency manipulator.

The comments reduced fears of additional trade or FX frictions and kept speculation alive that a potential swap line with the US could provide support against ongoing trade risks.

The dollar index fell to around 98 on Monday, extending losses for a second session as the prospect of a US government shutdown weighed on sentiment and investors awaited key economic data this week.

Parts of the government would close on Wednesday if Congress fails to pass a funding bill before the fiscal year ends on Tuesday, though President Donald Trump is set to meet congressional leaders later today to avert a shutdown.

Traders also looked ahead to September’s nonfarm payrolls report for labor market cues, alongside job openings, private payrolls and the ISM manufacturing PMI. Stronger US data last week dampened expectations for deeper Fed cuts, with markets now pricing in roughly 40 basis points of easing by year-end.

The greenback weakened broadly, posting the sharpest losses against the euro, sterling and yen.