SINGAPORE - Keppel Offshore & Marine (Keppel O&M) said on Monday that it has made full payment of the fines and damages payable worth 343.6 million reais (S$88.3 million) to Brazil under a leniency agreement that had been set out earlier.

At the same time, both the Attorney-General’s Chambers of Singapore and the Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) confirmed that Keppel O&M may seek crediting of up to US$52.8 million (S$69.3 million) in fines payable to the Brazilian authorities.

The fines are penalties for corrupt payments made by a former agent of Keppel O&M in Brazil. CPIB earlier in January also issued stern warnings to six former senior management staff of Keppel O&M over the bribe payments.

Keppel O&M, a unit under Keppel Corp, is currently working towards a merger with Sembcorp Marine (Sembmarine) after shareholders approved the proposed merger through an extraordinary general meeting in December.

While terms of the deal are still being finalised, Sembmarine announced last Friday that it has received approval in-principle from the Singapore Exchange Securities Trading (SGX-ST) for the merger. This was, however, conditional upon the company dispatching a circular in relation to the proposed merger by Jan 31.

Other conditions listed by SGX-ST include compliance with its listing requirements and disclosure that nothing to their knowledge may result in a material and adverse impact on the valuation of Keppel O&M and its subsidiaries, as well as shareholder approval from Sembmarine for the allotment and issuance of up to 36,848,072,918 Keppel O&M consideration shares.

Shares of Keppel closed on Monday at $7.56, up 0.13 per cent. THE BUSINESS TIMES