Sale By DBS Bank Of Its Entire Shareholding In Natsteel Ltd

SINGAPORE, November 13, 2002 - DBS Group Holdings Limited ("DBS") announced today that The Development Bank of Singapore Limited ("DBS Bank") entered into an agreement today to sell its entire shareholding of 53,905,915 ordinary shares of NatSteel Ltd. to Excel Partners Pte. Ltd. at a price of S$2.03 for each share. Excel Partners Pte. Ltd. is a shareholder of 98 Holdings Pte. Ltd.

On November 1, 2002, Sanion Enterprises Limited, which is controlled by Mr. Oei Hong Leong, made an offer to purchase DBS Bank's shares in NatSteel Ltd. at S$2.03 per share. Following receipt of the offer, DBS engaged Morgan Stanley Dean Witter Asia (Singapore) Pte. as financial advisor to advise DBS in connection with the sale of its shares in NatSteel Ltd. DBS publicly announced that Mr. Oei should extend its offer to all NatSteel Ltd. shareholders.

On November 12, Excel Partners Pte. Ltd. approached DBS to purchase DBS Bank's NatSteel Ltd. shares at S$2.03 per share, which would result in all NatSteel Ltd. shareholders receiving the same offer. That same afternoon, senior DBS officers met Mr. Oei to ask him to extend his offer to all NatSteel Ltd. shareholders, and to increase his earlier offer to S$2.05 per share. Mr. Oei made it clear that he was not prepared to increase his offer or make a general offer. Subsequently, DBS committed to Excel Partners Pte. Ltd.'s S$2.03 offer per share, as well as the undertaking to extend the offer to all NatSteel Ltd. shareholders.

The shares of NatSteel Ltd. were suspended today at 4:03 pm by the Board of NatSteel Ltd. following the receipt of the revised offer by 98 Holdings Pte. Ltd., which was based on the commitment of DBS to sell its NatSteel Ltd. shares to Excel Partners Pte. Ltd.. Following the share suspension, DBS received Mr. Oei's revised offer of S$2.05 per share. However, according to Jackson Tai, DBS Chief Executive Officer, "We gave Mr. Oei ample opportunity to increase the Sanion Enterprise offer and to extend the offer to all NatSteel Ltd. shareholders. Since Mr. Oei did not agree to our proposal, we committed ourselves to Excel Partners Pte. Ltd. and we live by our word and reputation as bankers."

The sale of the NatSteel Ltd. shares by DBS Bank is not expected to have any material impact on the consolidated net tangible assets of DBS. Upon the completion of the sale, DBS will realize a gain of S$96 million, which is equivalent to approximately 6.5 cents per share based on the existing issued share capital of DBS.

About DBS
DBS Bank is the largest bank in Singapore as measured by assets, with dominant positions in consumer banking, treasury and markets, securities brokerage, Singapore dollar loans, deposits, and equity and debt fund raising. Through its Dao Heng Bank and DBS Kwong On Bank operations, DBS Bank is the fourth largest banking group in Hong Kong. Beyond the anchor markets of Singapore and Hong Kong, DBS Bank serves corporate, institutional and retail customers through its operations in Thailand, The Philippines, and Indonesia. The Bank's credit ratings are amongst the highest in the Asia Pacific region. More information about DBS Group Holdings and DBS Bank can be obtained from our company website www.dbs.com.