![]() “The company seems to be releasing information on the offer in dribs and drabs. He also pointed out that for FY2022, Asti delivered a profit of $3 million and its current board announced an interim dividend of 0.45 cents per share, the first payout in 10 years.Ĭorporate governance advocate and professor at the National University of Singapore Business School, Professor Mak Yuen Teen, said he is not convinced that the offer from CEN and Mr Heah is confirmed for now. They were not transparent about their intentions,” Mr Anthony Loh said. “The requisitioners also did not provide a plan to overhaul the company and did not provide information on whether they would make an exit offer. He added that attempts to obtain additional details on how the new board of directors could better contribute to the company’s performance and manage the exit offer process, among others, were unsuccessful. Would it want to buy a company whose entire management has been replaced?” “Changing boards now would be very disruptive because we have been negotiating with CEN for an exit offer. When asked why the board had not been more cooperative with the requisitioning shareholders, Mr Anthony Loh said the current board believes the best option for shareholders is to nail down an exit offer as soon as possible. “We are keen to make an exit offer once we have a clearer picture of the company’s financials,” Mr Ng added. This was my purpose for wanting to requisition an EGM,” he said. “There are interested buyers, but when they see that we are not in control of the board and that the company’s accounts are not in order, it is very difficult to continue negotiations. He added that he has been in talks with other potential buyers to make an exit offer for Asti. Mr Ng, who wishes to be elected as a director of a new Asti board, revealed that he is interested in making an offer for the company because its businesses are complementary to iTrue’s. I am confident that the company can prosper if it is managed right, as there is consistent demand for the services we provide.” Mr Ng told ST: “I have been a shareholder of Asti for many years and know many of its top management. He also runs his own firm providing chip inspection services in China and Singapore called iTrue Technologies, which was incorporated here in 2005 as Meyfort Services. Mr Eddie Ng Yew Nam, a former employee of Asti who claims to have invested around $500,000 for an 11 per cent stake in Asti, led the requisition process. According to Asti, the requisitioning shareholders did not dispatch the proper notices for the EGM to shareholders on time, rendering the move invalid. In May 2023, several shareholders attempted but failed to convene an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) to replace Asti’s current board of directors. DGI, which owns a 40 per cent stake in EoCell, has been suspended from trading since 2018.Īsti also has a 26 per cent stake in Catalist-listed backend equipment maker Advanced Systems Automation and fully owns Telford, an unlisted company that programs chips. ![]() The company’s poor performance over the years was partly due to cost overruns incurred by its 41 per cent-owned subsidiary, mainboard-listed component distributor Dragon Group International (DGI), after DGI ventured into the entertainment business. It was placed on the SGX watch list in June 2019 after recording pre-tax losses for three consecutive years. Mr Michael Loh has since resigned from the board of directors and reportedly no longer has influence over Asti’s affairs.Īsti manufactures machines that assemble and package the components on printed circuit boards for the semiconductor industry. This could set a benchmark for the minimum price required for future voluntary offers, if they are made within six months of the former CEO’s share transfer to CEN, according to the Singapore Code on Takeovers and Mergers. If it does get the nod, CEN would have paid around 6.6 cents per Asti share, representing a hefty premium over the shares’ last traded price of 1.4 cents on July 5, 2022. The move is still pending approval from the SGX. ![]() Mr Michael Loh has not made an offer for Asti, though in February he transferred 130.2 million Asti shares comprising his entire 19.89 per cent stake in the company to CEN in exchange for 80 million CEN shares worth some $8.5 million. But another pressing issue remains – the absence of a confirmed exit offer for the company.Īsti was served a notification of delisting on June 6, 2022, which meant the company or its controlling shareholder must come up with a fair and reasonable exit offer, made in cash, to shareholders.Īt the time, the controlling shareholder was Asti chairman and chief executive Michael Loh (not related to Mr Anthony Loh).
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |