Company Briefs: Vard Holdings

Vard Holdings

The exit offer for shareholders of Vard Holdings has been extended from July 20 to Aug 7, as the shipbuilder has scheduled to hold an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) on the proposed delisting on July 24.

This follows unhappiness arising from an earlier EGM on April 30, when 96.54 per cent of shareholders voted in favour of the delisting offer from Italy's Fincantieri Oil & Gas, and 3.46 per cent against. But the meeting ended with the delisting resolution disputed, and retail investors unhappy over errors in the circular to shareholders.

Fincantieri has made an exit offer to buy the remaining shares that it does not already own at 25 cents apiece and to take the company private.

In view of the unhappiness among Vard's minority shareholders over the errors in the circular, the Singapore Exchange (SGX) reviewed the conduct of the proceedings of the EGM held on April 30, and issues raised regarding disclosures in the circular to shareholders dated April 13, to determine whether shareholders' approval for the resolution on the delisting was properly obtained.

The SGX has since ordered Vard to hold a new EGM.

The exit offer was previously extended to late this month.

Baker Technology

Oil and gas equipment supplier Baker Technology has cancelled plans to invest in Emas Offshore, throwing a spanner in the works of the target's plans to emerge from restructuring.

Baker Tech announced yesterday that its wholly owned subsidiary, BT Investment, terminated a term sheet with Emas and will no longer proceed with the planned investment.

BT Investment had entered into the term sheet in December last year with a number of co-investors to make a potential US$50 million (S$68.5 million) of equity injection into Emas, an offshore support vessel-focused business.

Last month, Emas had sought a four-month extension from the Singapore High Court to give it more time to negotiate the terms of the potential investment, after Baker Tech said it was no longer willing to pursue the original restructuring proposal.

Emas had said at the time that other potential investors had expressed an interest in its business operations and platform.

Join ST's Telegram channel and get the latest breaking news delivered to you.

A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on July 03, 2018, with the headline Company Briefs: Vard Holdings. Subscribe