Vard delays EGM on proposed delisting

File photo showing a Vard shipyard in Norway. The company said that it will delay an extraordinary general meeting on its proposed delisting. PHOTO: VARD HOLDINGS

Shipbuilder Vard Holdings will delay an extraordinary general meeting (EGM) on its proposed delisting, as the updated delisting circular is still being reviewed by bourse regulators.

The company will provide further updates on the status of the review, it said in an exchange filing on Saturday night.

Italy's Fincantieri, which already has more than 80 per cent stake in Vard, has made an exit offer to buy the remaining shares that it does not already own at 25 Singapore cents apiece.

Following unhappiness from its minority shareholders over, among other things the errors in the circular to shareholders, the exit offer has been extended to late July. The Singapore Exchange Regulation, or RegCo, had ordered Vard to hold a new extraordinary general meeting.

The Securities Investors Association (Singapore) or Sias also asked Vard's directors to give an account of their independence in the spirit of governance rules, with regard to Fincantieri's delisting offer; Vard's independent directors had recommended that shareholders accept Fincantieri's offer.

At an earlier EGM held on April 30, 96.54 per cent voted in favour of the delisting and 3.46 per cent against.

Fincantieri and associated parties controlled about 83.51 per cent of Vard as at 5pm on June 22.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on June 25, 2018, with the headline Vard delays EGM on proposed delisting. Subscribe