Dyna-Mac fires CEO following review of business after close of Hanwha’s exit offer
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Mr Lim Ah Cheng's dismissal comes after four years at the helm of Dyna-Mac.
PHOTO: DYNA-MAC
Janice Lim
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SINGAPORE - Offshore oil and gas contractor Dyna-Mac has fired its executive chairman and chief executive Lim Ah Cheng.
It said in a bourse filing late on Dec 16 that Mr Lim had been dismissed with immediate effect, following a review of its business after Hanwha Ocean SG completed the acquisition of the company.
As the board of directors wanted to identify areas where the strategic direction and operations of Dyna-Mac could be improved, it decided to terminate Mr Lim’s appointment as executive chairman of the board and as CEO.
The daily running of Dyna-Mac’s business will continue to be overseen by its directors and management team.
While there are no unresolved differences in opinion on material matters between Mr Lim and the board, there is still the issue of paying Mr Lim his remaining salary – a matter that is currently under discussion and will be finalised in due course, noted the filing.
Mr Lim’s sudden termination comes after four years at the helm of Dyna-Mac. He had managed to bring the beleaguered offshore oil and gas contractor back from the brink of bankruptcy.
In the first half of its 2020 fiscal year, the group registered a net loss of $14.2 million, on revenue of $51.4 million, just months after Mr Lim became CEO.
For the first half of the financial year 2024, Dyna-Mac’s earnings more than trebled to $38.8 million, from $10.1 million in the corresponding period the year before, as revenue climbed 42.5 per cent to $259.7 million.
Its order book grew to $681.3 million as at June 2024, with deliveries scheduled until the end of the financial year 2026.
Meanwhile, the group’s net cash position stood at $307.7 million, with zero bank borrowings.
The company will soon be delisted after Hanwha Ocean SG – a special-purpose vehicle owned by South Korean public companies Hanwha Aerospace and Hanwha Ocean – made a compulsory acquisition of all the offer shares not acquired under the offer on Nov 20.
Hanwha had launched a voluntary conditional cash offer in September to take management control of Dyna-Mac at an offer price of 60 cents per share.
This was raised in October to a final offer price of 67 cents apiece, which a substantial and founding shareholder accepted.
The offer turned unconditional on Nov 5, before the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore cleared Hanwha Ocean SG’s proposed acquisition of Dyna-Mac on Nov 15. THE BUSINESS TIMES
